Corinex, maker of powerline networking gear, sent us the GameNet kit, pitched as a way to get a game console online without having a home network. It is my humble duty to report that it works.
I didn't test it with an actual game console, but it doesn't really matter, because "GameNet" is just the marketing: you get two ethernet powerline wallwarts and they handle any old RJ45 internet protocol business at up to 200 Mbps.
A few notes follow, bullet-pointed for easy reference.
• 200 Mbps is bandwidth, not throughput. You'll only get close to that if the two units are six feet apart on the same wall. I didn't do any controlled testing, but I was getting throughput at a respectable hike, maybe 50
Mbps, from one end of a recently-rewired house to the other. It felt faster than 802.11g, and easily enough to run HD
media, internet and the like. But I wouldn't want to be stuck with it in a house with old or dirty electrics.
• There's more to it than simply modulating ones and zeroes on top of
AC. Each wallwart is in fact a router on a 10.10.xx.xx subnet, and can be logged into and configured. They work automagically, however, and you'll never, ever need to do this if you don't have some nerdy reason to.
• The data is encrypted with 56-bit DES. Cracked in 1999 56-bit DES.
• Your data propagates about 1000 feet, according to the manual.
• It doesn't work with surge protectors (or at least on my surge protectors). I had to plug both units into unfiltered mains outlets for them to work.
• It took about 30 seconds for DHCP to get its coat on through the Gamenet blocks. Worth knowing about for frequent rebooters.
• They're big. Bigger than a deck of cards.
• It's neat having an ethernet jack wherever there's a power outlet, especially for devices where wireless isn't an option.
• It works fine if you plug one end into another router, i.e. nesting its own little network of two within an already NATted home network.
• $170 a pair? That's a lot of money, considering what it's supposed to be an alternative to.
