review

Devolo Magic 2 Wifi 6 Review GHN Mesh WiFi Powerline Adapters

Tuesday, March 01, 2022



Powerline technology makes it possible for Internet signal to be sent directly over a home's electrical wiring, turning any home electrical socket into a neat Internet access point! The latest Mesh Wi-Fi powerline solution on the market, it's the new Devolo Magic 2 WiFi 6 (802.11ax), which support a higher throughput (up to 9.6 Gbps Wi-Fi speeds and up to 8K resolution streaming) to serve multiple bandwidth hungry users.


Devolo's Magic 2 WiFi 6 makes use of G.hn (Gigabit Home Networking) technology to enable the powerline adapters to serve up to 2400 Mbps (via Ethernet cable) and up to 1800 Mbps (via WiFi connection) of throughput bandwidth speed. The Devolo Wi-Fi 6 kit supports 2.4 Ghz, as well as 5 Ghz DFS, which means you get access to all 5 GHz WiFi radar and satellite channels, which have less WiFi interference and better WiFi performance. The Magic 2 Wifi 6 adapters also support the 802.11v/k (AP Steering) roaming standard, which automatically connects you to the best performing adapter - very useful when moving from different parts of a house (e.g. from attic to garden shed)
 


Another feature the Magic 2 WiFi 6 adapters support is "Airtime Fairness", which prioritizes Internet bandwidth for faster devices over slowest devices. Airtime Fairness is useful to turn on when running many slow devices such as Smart WiFi devices (e.g. smart plugs lights, etc), which are notorious for slowing network bandwidth. The Magic 2 Wifi 6 adapters are supported by the same Devolo Home Network mobile app and desktop software (Devolo Cockpit) as all other Devolo adapters. This means, if you already own a Devolo powerline kit you can simply create a different network and conveniently manage all of them via the same application. Setup takes less than 5 minutes and can be done via the mobile or desktop application. Using the mobile application is more convenient because you can check and change settings directly from your smartphone. You can also view, check and restrict Wifi usage (via parental control) to specific days, which is useful if you have children or guests.


Being Wifi 6, the Magic 2 Wifi 6 adapters benefit from both MU-MIMO and OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access) support, which means lower latency and higher bandwidth for online gaming and video conference calls. Another advantage with MU-MIMO and OFDMA is multi-user support so, bandwidth gets reallocated automatically in real time to suit low-bandwidth and high bandwidth requirements for different users in the same house without reducing performance. As far as security, the Magic 2 Wifi 6 adapters use WPA2/WPA3 encryption standards, which means you can safely do online banking.


The Magic 2 WiFi 6 adapters look just like all other Devolo adapters. The main difference being the technology inside it. Dimensions for the Wifi 6 adapters are 15cm high and 7.5cm wide (weighs 389 grams). The LAN adapter measures 13cm high and 6.5cm wide (weighs 229 grams). Being a powerline solution, the Magic 2 WiFi 6 adapters also requires a WiFi router in order to work. You can use any Wifi router and effectively upgrade an old router into a powerful Wifi 6 solution.


Because it uses "mesh" technology, the Devolo Wifi 6 adapters bounce the Wifi signal from adapter to adapter, which means the adapters have to be in relatively close proximity for the Magic 2 WiFi 6 adapters to work effectively. 
 
For small, medium size houses the multiroom kit may suffice. For larger homes, including outdoor sheds, garages or annexes, you may likely need a few more add on adapters to relay the Wifi signal effectively. That said, if the outdoor shed, garage or annex is wired to your homes electrical wiring, you won't have to worry about Wifi distance as you can simply plug in a Devolo adapter inside the outdoor shed, garage or annex.


In terms of pricing, a dedicated Wifi 6 router works cheaper to buy but it isn't as flexible and versatile as the Magic 2 Wifi 6 solution, which eliminates the need of having to run Ethernet cables around the house from the router. The Magic 2 WiFi 6 adapters let you tap into wireless Internet, as well as wired Internet quickly and easy. The only Ethernet cable that is needed is for connecting the LAN adapter to a router. From then on, you can choose to connect wirelessly and wired via Ethernet cable directly from the adapter, which reduces cable management considerably.


Another neat feature you get with the Devolo Magic 2 WiFi 6 adapters is a passthrough plug so, you can still make use of the electrical socket space taken by the Devolo adapter. Overall, you can expect a faster Internet bandwidth performance using the Magic 2 Wifi 6 but it is worth pointing out that most people aren't likely to achieve the stated 2400 Mbps speed as this is a theoretical calculation done in a controlled testing environment. 
 
Performance will be lower than stated due to many factors such as encryption/ decryption, distance of adapters, ISP bandwidth and the type of breaker units / fuse boards circuits used in the home. The included cable is also a limiting factor as it is only a CAT 5E and for the stated speed you would need a CAT 6A and CAT 7 cable.


The Magic 2 Wifi 6 comes as a starter kit (1 LAN + 1 Wifi 6 adapters) and multiroom kit (pictured on this review), which includes one LAN adapter and two Wifi 6 adapters. You also have the option of buying more LAN adapters and Wifi 6 adapters to build a larger powerline network. One LAN adapter can handle up to eight Wifi 6 adapters. The Magic 2 Wifi 6 powerline kits come with a 2 meter long (male to male) CAT 5E RJ45 Ethernet cable. 
 
The Magic 2 Wifi 6 adapters are also compatible and expandable with other Devolo Magic series adapters such as Magic 2 Wifi Next, Mesh Wifi 2 and Magic 2 Mesh Wifi. The only Devolo powerline adapters that aren't compatible with the Magic 2 Wifi 6 kit are Devolo's dLAN series adapters. You can buy the Magic 2 Wifi 6 from amazon.

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