devolo Mesh WLAN 2 review: WLAN through the socket?

The German company “Devolo” wants to revolutionize WLAN with the devolo Mesh WLAN 2. Mesh WiFi through the socket and thus a network through the entire house. TechnikNews has had the multiroom set in a long-term test.

Who benefits most from a mesh system and how does it actually work? To understand the product well, I will explain a few terms and explain the system.

Concepts

Powerline technology

The WiFi signal is broadcast by a conventional router, but this is limited and does not go through walls well. This signal can be amplified with "simple repeaters", but this may not work well over a longer distance, and in a basement it can be very bad/annoying depending on the floor. There are several ways to solve this problem. You can either lay a network of LAN cables through your house and connect them to WiFi repeaters, or you can use an existing network, the power line. This will never be as good as a direct LAN connection, but it is sufficient for a stable and fast Internet connection. In technical terms, this is also called "powerline". In other words, the power grid is used.

Mesh

The second important technology is mesh technology. Older adapters have the problem that they open a new WLAN network instead of strengthening the existing one. For the user, this means logging into a WLAN twice and not a "smooth change" (at least in my setup). Mesh technology has fixed this, and now a large network is created. The problem with Devolo for those who use a FRITZ!Box is that the systems are not compatible. So if you already have a Fritz adapter, you cannot combine the devices.

With Mesh and Powerline, a network is built up through several distributors (Image: Devolo)

Who is a mesh set suitable for?

Especially for houses / apartments that have thick walls or are tall. Simply where the router is weak and a “repeater solution” is out of the question.

devolo Mesh WLAN 2: Scope of delivery

The Mesh WLAN 2 (Multiroomkit) comes in a box with the respective adapters, a LAN cable and an introduction

The scope of delivery offers everything that is needed for set-up. (Image: TechnikNews)

Setup / commissioning

The devolo Mesh WLAN 2 Set was easy to put into operation. It is important that the adapters are plugged into the correct sockets. Multiple sockets interfere with the transmission rate, so the adapters should be plugged into "individual" sockets.

All adapters are identical, so it does not matter which one acts as a “distributor” and which one as the “receiver”. One of the two / three (depending on the set) adapter is plugged into the socket and connected to the router via LAN, the other two can now be distributed around the house. The adapters find themselves automatically. The first settings / updates can then be made via the app or website. Then the router's WiFi must be switched off, this is no longer required. The first update took about 10 minutes, after which all devices were up to date. The setup is a lot easier than with our "older" Fritz solution. There several buttons have to be pressed within a few minutes, which was not easy and always worked reliably.

The devolo Mesh WLAN 2 in the everyday test:

My family and I have been using the set in everyday life for more than two months and are both positively and negatively surprised. Before that, we used a system from Devolo, which was a bit slow and prone to interference (it had to be restarted almost every day). Devolo's solution is much faster, more reliable and achieves a greater range. Unfortunately, however, it also has a few problems. Switching between the different repeaters does not always work "interference-free" and sometimes the WiFi supply breaks off completely for a few seconds. There were no problems over Ethernet, so desktop PCs are excluded. The range is also noticeable. A room that was not reached with the FRITZ solution was partially reached with the Mesh WLAN 2.

Detailed speed results

Our house consists of three floors. The “ground floor” where the router is located, the first floor and the “upper floor”.

Fast upload (up to 50 Mbp / s) is also possible via Ethernet. Each of the two adapters has two LAN ports for this purpose.

Software

The adapters can be configured via a web app / Windows app or app for Android / iOS. The Windows app “devolo Cockpit” still looks rather “old-fashioned”, but it offers the most important settings. The web app, meanwhile, looks a lot more modern and is easier to use.

devolo Mesh WLAN 2: Conclusion

The devolo Mesh WLAN 2 is a good Internet solution, especially for rooms that would be difficult to access without a powerline. However, it still lags behind Ethernet, which is why Powerline is more intended for older houses / apartments. In our house, Devolo was able to achieve a higher performance than FRITZ, but it is not free from interference. It is difficult to say whether this is due to our devices or Devolo, but since Fritz also causes us problems, I would take it on our head. For many, the starter set with two adapters will be sufficient; those who need more will get three adapters with the “multiroom set”.

devolo has not overtaken itself here in marketing. If you don't have WiFi in certain places in the house, you will get WiFi with your solution. Not the fastest, but faster on a competing set (at least for me).

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