Rosewill RPLC-200PKIT Overview

The Rosewill RPLC-200PKIT came in a rather soothing light-blue and white box. Inside were two RPLC adapters, two Cat-5e cables, a quick installation guide, and a CD with the Power Packet Utility on it. The Rosewill adapters are quite a bit larger than the Trendnet adapters that I have been using. Most of that bulk, I am sure, is due to the AC pass-through on the Rosewill RPLC adapters.

On the front of the Rosewill RPLCE 200PKit adapters, the AC pass-through is surrounded by a blue circle. Below that, on the bottom right, are three LEDs that somewhat resemble what they stand for. The top LED is, of course, the Power LED. The Power LED can either be solid green or blinking green. Solid green means that the system is on and running normally. Blinking green can mean a few different things; either the adapter is resetting, it is in the process of password synchronization, or it is in power saving mode.

The middle LED is the network LED. This LED can also be solid or blinking green. Solid, of course, means that the ethernet connection has been established. If the network LED is blinking green, it means that data is being transmitted. If there is no network connection, this LED will be off.

The bottom LED is the data LED, which can be either green, orange, or red, depending on the strength of the signal. Green indicates an excellent connection, orange an average connection, and red a poor connection.

The most prominent feature on the front of the Rosewill RPLC 200P adapter is, of course, the pass-through outlet. In case you didn’t see it at first, Rosewill has put a huge blue circle around it. As far as I can tell, the blue circle is just aesthetic. I don’t like it. It doesn’t match my wall paint.

I do, however, like the fact that there is a pass-through outlet on the RPLC 200P for a couple of reasons. First, because of its size, the RPLC 200P actually covers up the ground input of the top outlet on your typical wall plug. That means, without the pass-through, you wouldn’t be able to use a three-pronged plug in that outlet. Of course, the reason that the RPLC 200P is so big in the first place is because of the pass through. Either way, the second reason why I like it is because you actually don’t see it a lot on powerline adapters. I see these adapters as being most used in the living room for the entertainment center, considering that is where I have two. Behind my entertainment center wall outlets are at a premium, taking one (or possibly two) up doesn’t leave me with a lot of options.

The ethernet port is on the underside of the Rosewill RPLC 200P adapter, alongside a reset/security button. I’m not the biggest fan of the ethernet port on the bottom, but it is certainly a better choice than the top for the RPLC 200P. If there is to be any hope of using the second wall plug, a top-protruding ethernet cable would certainly ruin it. What I would like to see is an ethernet port on the side of the adapter. Or even better yet, a rotating plug, thus placing the ethernet port wherever you like. We’ll talk about the reset/security button in the next section.

The back of the Rosewill RPLC 200P adapter houses the three-pronged plug, meaning no flipping it upside down. It is also where you will find the standard compliance labels and information about the input-output levels.