Sling Media Slinglink Turbo review

Can this really give you internet via your plug socket?

21 June 2007 0:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Wireless networks are great until you have to stretch any real distance or you live in a house that has walls thicker than the Tower of London's battlements.

Sling Media, creators of the Slingbox that allows you to watch your television anywhere in the world as long as you've got an internet connection, have joined the rest of the networking pack with a Ethernet-over-powerline offering that lets you utilise the ring main in your house to get your internet in other rooms without additional cables.

Still with us? Basically you plug the first Slinglink Turbo into your broadband router and a spare plug socket, then another is plugged into any plug socket anywhere in the house. A few seconds later and you've now got internet in that room. Ta dah!

Like the systems we've tested from Devolo, the Slinglink Turbo is incredibly easy to use and requires nothing more than working out where you want to plug them. Unlike the Devolo kit, however, the unit isn't built into the plug and that comes with its own pros and cons. The cons are that you've got to find somewhere to store the box, while the pros means that you haven't got a massive box sticking out of your plug socket looking unslightly.

That said, the boxes themselves are black and somewhat stlyised and although they aren't going to win any awards for their prettiness, they are certainly better than beige boring network boxes.

In our tests the Slinglink Turbo's performed very well, afor both internet surfing, transferring big large files and streaming high-def video around the network and was great for watching an episode of Megawhat.tv.

We tested the one port version, however if you've got lots of things to connect, the company does offer a four port version as well, making setting up a home office very easy.

Verdict

Like the Devolo kit, the Slinglink Turbo is a great way of getting an internet connection around your house for those areas that are just too far to reach for a wireless network.

As the box says; "Where there's a plug, there's a network" and we would have to agree.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Sling
Price as reviewed: £69.99
The good: Easy to install, stylish, works
The bad: Device not built into plug
Quick verdict: The Slinglink Turbo is a great way of getting an internet connection around your house
Score