My house was built in 1929. Needless to say, back then they didn’t have such fancy-shmancy things like three prong outlets, and CAT5 wiring. So what do you do when you live in a house not wired for modern conveniences like TiVo and ethernet and your wife won’t let you go around cutting holes into the plaster walls?

You can try to go wireless, but 802.11g, while sufficient for web-surfing, chokes on the sausage when you try to stream high-def video, especially if said wife wants to cook something in the microwave.

The solution turned out to be one which aroused my suspicions: the NetGear HDXB101.

The Olden Days

Why did I turn skeptical? Back in the days of dial-up, I lived in an apartment which had one phone jack, and that was—I kid you not—in my bedroom closet.

Back then, the precursor to the HDX101 was on the market. Called a “Wireless Phone Jack System,” Radio Shack carried them in just about every store.

The first time I saw the package I was geeked: all I had to do was, “JUST PLUG IT IN! No Drilling! No wiring! No Tools!” According to the box, all I really needed to enjoy wireless surfing joy anywhere in my apartment was a phone jack and an internet connection.

Luckily I had one in my bedroom closet. I whipped out my wallet headed for home, excited to try out my new gadget.

Unfortunately, that early technology had its price: I went from 28.8 kbaud to 9600 baud. NOT COOL!

But that was then, and $59.99—adjusted for inflation, $81.37—doesn’t go quite as far when you need the bandwith, and this is now, a time when you can plug things into old wiring and have them work, for around $164.99 in 2007 dollars.

The Box, The BOX, What’s In the Box?

Those who know me, know my philosophy that if you have to include an install CD with hardware that doesn’t go in a computer you need to re-think your product, so I was a little perplexed when I opened the box and found a CD-ROM. Hmm.

 

Setting that aside I peeked at the manual—yeah, I know, sissy—such that it was.

Also included were the two outlet units and a couple of CAT5 patch cables for those of you who haven’t accumulated a couple of thousand patch cables over the years.