With Magic 2 Devolo offers a new powerline system, with which you can harness a fast Wi-Fi network with mesh function to the farthest corner of the apartment. It works well, but could be even easier.
With Powerline systems you can extend the WLAN range wonderfully over longer distances and over several rooms. Devolo proved that with its dLAN adapters . Now the manufacturer follows the trend to the mesh network and sells with its Magic system new turbo adapters, which perfectly master the function “and are astonishingly easy to install”. n-tv.de has tried, if that is really the case.
High speed
For the test Devolo has delivered the Magic 2 Multiroom Kit, which should be sufficient with a LAN and two Wi-Fi adapters for larger homes. It costs about 300 euros. The “2” indicates that this is the faster version of the system, allowing for theoretical speeds up to 2400 megabits per second (Mbps) in the power line. With Magic 1 it is still 1200 Mbit / s, the same maximum speed that the adapters of both versions can achieve via WLAN ac. In addition, the wireless devices each have two Gigabit Ethernet ports, the LAN adapter one.
But you should not be blinded by the numbers. These are (as with other manufacturers) transfer rates that are possible only under ideal conditions. In reality, 300 to 400 Mbit / s are very pleasing. And for that matter, the Magic 2 system has not disappointed. At distances of up to 30 meters, the data throughput at various sockets was often 400 to 500 Mbit / s, sometimes it was a bit more, but occasionally also significantly less and in the worst case, the rate went down to 20 Mbit / s.
Other devices brake
That’s because powerline transmissions are still very prone to interference. So one must plug adapter in any case in multiple sockets and should not connect another consumer with double sockets in the wall. There are many possible sources of interference, from the washing machine to the smartphone charger. Everything that can intervene has tried ” Golem “. Who would have thought that energy-saving bulbs would have a huge impact on the powerline brake?
So what’s possible with the Magic 2 adapters depends very much on the circumstances. But it can be said that the Devolo equipment performs very well and allows really high speeds. Probably you will achieve similarly good throughput rates with the slightly cheaper Magic-1 adapters.
Mesh works
As far as the mesh function is concerned, there are no differences between the variants. Both span a network with uniform SSID (network name) and spark in the WLAN with up to 1200 Mbit / s and 2.4 or 5 GHz (GHz). They automatically select the cheaper frequency band and devices are always connected to the strongest access point. This has basically worked well in the test network, however, the handover could happen a little earlier. It sometimes remains too long with the adapter with the weaker Wi-Fi transmission rate.
Basically, the Devolo adapters work well with a Fritzbox and take over the WPS SSID, but they do not really stretch a common mesh network. This means that a device that is connected to the AVM router, only the Magic-WLAN changes when the connection to the Fritzbox demolishes or the connection is interrupted briefly. Here it is more likely to buy powerline devices from AVM.
Confusing instructions
Otherwise, the Magic-2 system could convince absolutely technically. What is less well done are the instructions. Above all, it is annoying that the actually very simple installation is made unnecessarily complicated by contradictory instructions. So you should plug in according to the Quick Guide first, the wireless adapter and then connect only the LAN adapter with the router and the socket. If you use the app, the order is exactly the other way round – and right.
At some point, the user comes to the conclusion that it is possible to create a new network, extend an existing one and use mesh functions, and that in each case different approaches are needed. However, this should be clarified at the beginning of the setup and the correct order at startup should be displayed.
App and desktop application could also be a little clearer and make the user uncomplicated to the user interface of the adapter. This is basically nice and simple, but if you have no basic knowledge, you should first download the detailed instructions from Devolo’s support page.
All in all, Devolo Magic 2 is a very fast powerline solution with mesh function, which is basically also put into operation quickly. However, the manufacturer has to improve the documentation so that he can keep his promise of an “amazingly simple” installation. Also App and desktop program can do better.