How devolo Magic works
As already explained in the introductory phase of this post, the devolo magic take advantage of technology Powerline and that of mesh networking to extend the signal of the main router and create a single, stable and secure network capable of covering an entire home or an entire office (operating on lines up to 500 meters long) at high speeds, up to 2.400 Mbps, with technology support Wi-Fi ac.
Going into more detail, the Powerline (as I also explained to you in my guide dedicated to the topic) uses the technology of the conveyed waves to transmit data, and therefore the Internet signal, using electricity cables, while the technology of mesh networking allows you to extend the Wi-Fi coverage through multiple repeaters that act as satellites.
If you were wondering, mesh systems are distinguished from the classic systems formed by a router associated with several Wi-Fi repeaters by the fact that they generate a single network, with the same SSID (therefore the same name) and the same d 'key. access without causing performance losses or connection drops when switching from one node to another in the network (therefore from one repeater to another). This happens because there is no hierarchical order among the various nodes of the network and each router / satellite that is part of it communicates with the other, sending and receiving data at the same speed. Another important thing to underline is that Powerline systems and mesh systems, including devolo Magic, can be easily expanded by installing additional adapters: all operations that can be carried out very easily and without unnecessary waste of time.
In addition to the combination of Powerline and mesh systems, what makes devolo Magic one of the fastest Powerline systems on the market is the presence of second generation chip G.hn., which allow a better stability and amplitude of the signal. To this we must add the implementation of the technology Airtime Fairness, which gives higher priority to the fastest devices and allows to prevent the so-called "bottlenecks" and connection difficulties in the event of the presence of older devices on the network, and band steering, a technology that allows each Wi-Fi device to be automatically associated with the best band frequency (classic 2.4GHz or 5GHz) and simultaneously access the network without signal interruptions.
Devolo Magic adapters
Now that you know how devolo Magic adapters work, let's see in detail what models and kits are available.
- devolo Magic 2 - they are the most advanced models of devolo Magic adapters and ensure a data transfer rate of up to 2.400 Mbps, ideal for playing content in 4K or even 8K, with a range of up to 500 meters. They are available in Wi-Fi (wireless) and LAN (with connectivity via Ethernet cable only) variant. The Wi-Fi model ensures bandwidth speeds of up to 2.400 Mbps, is equipped with two Gigabit Ethernet ports and support for Wi-Fi ac with mesh functionality. devolo Magic 2 LAN, on the other hand, only offers one Gigabit Ethernet port. Both adapters have a pass-through socket to make the sockets to which they are connected "usable". They are sold in kits or individually. Kits can consist of two or three adapters. It should be emphasized that, in the Wi-Fi kits, the adapter to be connected to the main router (via Ethernet cable, supplied in the sales package) is in any case of the LAN type.
- devolo Magic 1 - they are the entry-level models of devolo Magic and differ from the more advanced ones for the data transfer speed, equal to a maximum of 1.200 Mbps, and for the range of action, which is 400 meters. In addition, the Wi-Fi model has two Fast Ethernet ports instead of two Gigabit Ethernet ports (thus with a lower data transfer rate). Otherwise, they have the same features and functionality as devolo Magic 2.
How to use devolo Magic
After choosing the model of devolo magic best suited to your needs, all you have to do is take it out of the sales package and start using it: below you will find everything explained, from the first installation to the configuration of the settings, through the addition of new adapters and the expansion of the network.
Basic installation
The procedure forinstallation of devolo Magic is of a disarming simplicity, also because these adapters are compatible with all routers on the market: the only important thing is to make sure you connect the devices directly to the wall socket and not to a power strip or a double plug, as this could compromise its correct functioning.
When it comes to devolo Magic Wi-Fi kits, the first step is to make a note of the password of the device's Wi-Fi network consulting the label placed on the latter, after which the adapter must be connected devolo Magic WiFi to a free electrical outlet and wait until the House-shaped LED does not start flashing with an intermittent white light (this should take about 1 minute).
Once this is done, you need to connect the adapter devolo Magic LAN to an electrical outlet and the router, using the Ethernet cable supplied with the device. At this point, the adapter LED should flash white and, within 3 minutes, automatic pairing between the two luminaires in the kit should occur.
If the automatic pairing does not work and the LEDs on the adapters flash red, try to perform themanual pairing devices: to perform this procedure, press the key with house icon on the WiFi adapter and the side button on the LAN adapter. Within a few seconds, the two LEDs should first flash white and then show one solid white light: a sign that the pairing was successful.
If the manual pairing is not successful either, make sure that the adapters are connected directly to the power socket and not to a power strip or a double plug and check that the two sockets are part of the same system (therefore of the same meter). After these checks, try to reset the WiFi adapter by inserting a toothpick or other pointed object into the reset (the recessed one located on the upper side of the luminaire), until the house-shaped LED takes on a pink color.
Finally, if you have a Smart TV, a set-top box or any other device that supports a wired connection to the Internet, I recommend that you take an Ethernet cable and connect it to the devolo Magic WiFi adapter, in order to provide it with a direct cable connection (which is more robust than wireless anyway). You can connect up to two devices to each devolo Magic WiFi adapter.
The procedure for the first installation of the kits devolo Magic LAN it is almost identical to that of the devolo Magic WiFi kits. The only differences are that, of course, you don't have to pin down the Wi-Fi key and you have to press the side button for manual pairing instead of the one with the house icon.
Connection to the network
Once the devolo Magic kit has been installed, you can immediately connect to the network generated by it (via cable or Wi-Fi) and surf online.
In the case of a Wi-Fi connection, for example, just select the named network devolo-xyz (where there are three digits instead of "xyz") from the list of available connections and enter the access key you wrote down in the initial phase of the installation.
To establish a cable connection, however, just use a Ethernet cable and put the adapter in communication with the device to be connected to the network (e.g. Smart TV, set-top box or computer).
Use of mesh technology
At this point you have done an extension of your home network (or that of your office), but you still have a SSID it's a Password different for the main router and the devolo Magic.
To create a single network with the same name (SSID) and the same access key for all devices, i.e. for both the main router and the devolo adapters, and thus take advantage of the devolo Magic mesh technology, you need to one more step.
If your devolo Magic WiFi is more than 10 meters from the main router, move it momentarily and plug it into a socket closer to the main router. Then wait for the LED with house icon turn solid white and press the relevant button.
Once this is done, press the button WPS of your router and wait a couple of minutes: when the LED with the house icon on devolo Magic turns solid white again, the adapter will have acquired the SSID and passkey of the main router and then, once moved in another area of your home or office (if needed), it will allow you to seamlessly use the same network as your main router.
Configuration
Customize the settings of devolo magic it's really a no-brainer. The easiest way to do this is to download the app devolo Home Network for smartphones and tablets (which only works with Devolo Magic WiFi adapters), or you can use your own computer, after installing a specific free software.
Give smartphone and tablet
If you prefer to act as a smartphone or tablet, all you have to do is open the default store of your device, search for the app devolo Home Network inside and install it.
Stai using a device Android, then open the Google Play Store (the icon with the ▶ ︎ symbol located on the home screen or in the drawer, i.e. in the screen with the list of all the apps installed on the device), search "devolo Home Network" in the top bar and come on Submit. Then select the app icon from the search results and first press the button Install e poi quello Accept to start the installation of the same. If you are reading this tutorial directly from Android, you can speed up the app installation procedure and directly view the Play Store page dedicated to devolo Home Network by tapping here.
Se, invece, stai using a iPhone or iPad, open theApp Store (the blue icon with the letter "A" in the center located on the home screen), select the tab Search located at the bottom right and search "devolo Home Network" in the bar that appears on the screen. Then select the application icon from the search results and start the installation of the same by pressing the button first Get e poi quello Install. You may be asked to verify your identity through Face ID, touch ID o password dell'ID Apple. If you are reading this tutorial directly from iOS, you can speed up the app installation procedure and directly view the App Store page dedicated to devolo Home Network by tapping here.
Once installation is complete, start the app devolo Home Network selecting its icon from the main screen of your device, presses the button Continuation and wait for the list of devolo Magic adapters that are part of your network to appear.
If no adapter is detected, go to the settings of your smartphone or tablet and make sure you are connected to the Wi-Fi network of the devolo devices. Also, check that the adapters are correctly paired as explained in the chapter of the guide dedicated to installing devolo Magic (they must have solid white LEDs).
At this point, select theadapter you want to configure from the main screen of the app and, within a few moments, you will find yourself in front of a page with all the data of the device: name, serial number, firmware version installed, etc. Further down, however, you will find boxes related to WiFi, Powerline e LAN with, respectively, the details on the Wi-Fi network (e.g. channel, SSID and connected devices), the Powerline (with information on the encryption used and on the connected devices) and the LAN network (adapter IP address, subnet mask , gateway and DNS server used).
To customize the adapter configuration, tap the ☰ button located at the top left and select one of the options in the menu that appears on the side. For example, to configure the Wi-Fi network settings, select the item Wi-Fi. This will open a page through which to adjust the name of the network, the access key to the latter and the radio channel to be used for 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks.
Then by pressing the ☰ button for a second time and selecting one of the items that appeared in the left menu, you can change other parameters: Guest network to activate or deactivate the guest network (to be used by people who visit you at home without revealing the access credentials of your private Wi-Fi network); Smart WiFi to activate or deactivate the Smart WiFi function (which optimizes the use of Wi-Fi frequencies and reduces line congestion when there are many devices always connected) and take advantage of the function WiFi Clone (to clone SSID and password from another access point in the network, provided that this supports WPS technology); Timed management to activate or deactivate the automatic shutdown of Wi-Fi based on the days and times of your choice;WPS to activate or deactivate the WPS function (which allows you to connect to other access points and wireless devices with the push of a button) and Neighboring networks, to view the list of wireless networks available nearby and their degree of strength.
Moving on to section Powerline of the adapter management panel (again via the left sidebar), you can start a new pairing procedure and pair the selected adapter with another adapter present in the network. To do this, press the button on the adapter you want to match the one you are configuring and then press the button Create PLC connection present in the devolo Home Network app.
Alternatively, you can establish a manual connection between devices by typing a password PLC in the appropriate text field or disconnect a previously paired adapter by pressing the button Disconnect PLC connection app.
By scrolling, however, the screen up and down, you can find all the information on the PLC connection currently in use: device ID, MAC address, transmission level in Mbps and more.
The section LAN of the devolo Magic management panel is divided into two parts: State, with the status of the Ethernet ports of the selected adapter and the details of the LAN connection (IP address of the device, subnet mask, DNS server, etc.) and IPv4 / IPv6 with, instead, the options to enable and disable the use of DHCP technology for the automatic assignment of the IP address to the adapter.
By deactivating the option Retrieve the network settings of a DHCP server, in fact, you can configure the use of a static address for your adapter (if you are not sure where to put your hands, however, I strongly advise you to leave the default settings active).
The last item available in the devolo Home Network menu is the one related to System, which allows you to access a series of information on the selected adapter (such as date and time, MAC address and LED status) and a series of advanced configurations of the same.
For example, selecting the item Management from the left sidebar you can access a screen that allows you to edit the device name, set one access password to its management panel, adjust the Powerline standby settings, set i LED and command keys.
By selecting, instead, the item Configuration from the left sidebar you can save the configuration device as a file, restore it via a previously created backup, reset the device or restart itby pressing the appropriate buttons.
Going to the section firmware, as you can easily understand, you can start the devolo Magic firmware update, while accessing the page Config Sync you can activate or deactivate the Config Sync function, which allows you to synchronize the adapter settings with all devices on the network that support the latter.
From computer
If you want to configure your devolo Magic adapters from a computer, you need to install the free software devolo Cockpit, which is available for Windows, macOS and Linux and allows you to easily manage all devices of the devolo Magic family.
To get the program installation package, connect to the devolo website and click on the item devolo Cockpit [version number] - Windows, if you use a Windows PC, or on voice devolo Cockpit [version number] - Mac, if you are using a Mac.
To download completed, a PC Windows, april il .exe file just got it and reply Yes notice that appears on the screen. Then wait for the progress bar to finish, click on the button NEXT in the window that appears on the desktop, wait for the installation to finish and press on end to close the window and start devolo Cockpit.
If you use a MacInstead, open the dmg package downloaded from the devolo website, launches the executable devolo Cockpit Installation present inside and answer apri notice that appears on the screen. At this point, type the administration password of the Mac, come on Submit click her cousin NEXT and then end to finish the setup. Once this is done, start devolo Cockpit from your Mac's Applications folder.
Now you just have to find your devolo Magic in the devolo Cockpit main window and click on arrow placed next to the latter. Once this is done, click on tab located on the right of the adapter to be configured and select the icon Device configuration page (the arrow with the gear next to it) that appears on the right.
This will open a page with the devolo Magic web management panel, which works in the same way as explained above for the devolo Home Network app for smartphones and tablets.
To customize the settings of your devolo Magic, therefore, all you have to do is access one of the sections listed on the left (eg. View, WiFi, Powerline, LAN o System) and then act on the various options available.
Adding and removing adapters from the network
As widely mentioned in the previous steps of this tutorial, you can expand your home network at any time by installing new devolo Magic adapters.
The procedure you need to follow for add new devolo Magic to your system is very simple: insert the adapter into a free socket (not in a power strip or a double plug, I recommend!) and wait for the LED to become solid white, a sign that the pairing with the main adapter (the one connected to the router) was successful. Devolo Magic will automatically acquire the SSID and passkey of the other adapters in the network.
If the pairing procedure fails, try a manual pairing of your devolo Magic by pressing the side button of the adapter connected to the main router and the pairing button of the adapter to be paired (which is the one with thehouse icon about devolo Magic WiFI and that lateral sui devolo Magic LAN).
If, on the other hand, you want to remove the association of a devolo Magic already part of your network, access the device management panel (as explained in the chapter of this guide dedicated to the configuration of devolo Magic), go to the section Powerline and presses the button Disconnect PLC connection. Alternatively, press with a pointed object and hold down the key reset on the top of the adapter (in the case of devolo Magic WiFi) until the LED with the house icon turns pink.
For more information
If you need more information about devolo Magic adapters, I highly recommend you visit the devolo website, where you can find all the answers to your questions.
The page dedicated to the product, in fact, illustrates all the main features of the devolo Magic adapters, while using the menu at the top you can learn more about the technologies used by the latter, the apps and software dedicated to their management, the models available and the shops at which to buy them. It's all just a click away.
Articolo realizzato in collaboration with devolo.
devolo Magic: what it is and how it works
