Brands for Less
Brands for Less is a store located in Salmiya opposite Eureka and NBK. Although they’ve been open for around 2 years now yesterday was the first time I passed by. Nat wanted a kitchen scale and she had heard there was a good one at Brands for Less so we went to check it out. The place although not very big was surprisingly interesting. They had a clothes and shoes section but I stayed downstairs where they had on display various electronics, stuff for the house and just really random stuff. I am trying to name some of the random items I saw but they’re just too many to list out. I mean they even have a unicycle!
The prices are very cheap, the cheapest I’ve seen in the market for what I was looking for and everything or at least the majority of the items were a German brand called Tchibo. All the product descriptions on the packages were also in German so its recommended you take a German speaking friend along. I ended up leaving with a few items my favorite being an Ethernet-Over-Power setup. The package came with three wall adapters and it cost me only KD13! Thats very cheap and although all the instructions were in German I didn’t need to set them up, they worked perfectly out of the box. There was only one more left so if you interested you need to hurry up.
I highly recommend anyone who loves places that carry random stuff to pass by. They’re located in Salmiya and their number is 25752456.
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42 Comments, add your own...
1. Stafa | January 5th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
What’s an ethernet over power setup? I looked it up on wikipedia and didn’t really understand lol
2. Mark | January 5th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
regular network u need an ethernet cable from on point to another point.
with ethernet over power, your home electricity network replaces the ethernet cable.
for example: You have a computer in your bedroom but your DSL router is in your living room. You have two choices usually:
1) run an etherent cable from the dsl router in your living room to your bedroom
2) setup a wifi accesspoint in your living room and hope your computer can see it in the bedroom
ethernet over power is another way of doing it.
You get two adapters, plug one into the power outlet in the living room and connect it to your router, then you plug another adapter in a power outlet in your bedroom and connect it to your computer. and thats it, you basically turn your power network into your computer network.
3. n74 | January 5th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
i had no idea there is such a device!!! How come it isn’t more popular? Any drawbacks?
4. Holla | January 5th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
how well does this setup work? It feels like a gimmick to me.
5. Stafa | January 5th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
woah pretty cool and cheap alternative!
6. cajie | January 5th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
These frequently pop up on woot – and always thought of experimenting it with one. 13 KD is a great price.
7. Mark | January 5th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Well downside used to be price but I got this for cheap.
Also 802.11G is faster than the one I got.
8. Komsomol | January 5th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
That’s awesome.
I wanted a Powerline solution for ages! I didn’t even think they had it in Kuwait. The one on Amazon I wanted was 30KD which is too damn much.
Review it Mark if you can.
9. Mark | January 5th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
the problem with the ones on amazon or woot is that they are 110v and if u use a transformer it wont work. the one i got yesterday is 100-240v.
hmm maybei should pass by and get the last one lol
10. Rayboy | January 5th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Mark..usually EOP… cannot exceed more than 14 MBPS… im not sure , what you got.
11. Mark | January 5th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Mine says 80 something and here is a Belkin one thats 200MB
http://www.slashgear.com/belkin-powerline-av-ethernet-over-power-at-200mbs-1412513/
12. Rayboy | January 5th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
wow…
13. Ma7 | January 5th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Hoohaaaaaaa
Bought it :D
14. TanGo | January 5th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
at the risk of sounding (idiotic), why not use a wireless ADSL router for the whole house!
15. Mark | January 5th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Well for a number of reasons.
1) I live in a safe. From my living room to my bedroom there is maybe 15 meters and I can’t get a wifi signal in the bedroom even though the wireless router is in my living room. I can’t even see the other wireless router i have set up in my ground floor. My building was built in the 80s by Koreans, its indestructible.
2) Wireless units are bulky and I already have 3 wireless repeaters in the house and they aren’t very stable. Not a problem for browsing the web, a problem when streaming video to my media server. The connection would suddenly drop for no reason during a movie and it would stop playing.
3) this is cheap, KD13 for 3 units. The cheapest wifi repeater I got was from Amazon for KD10 and it was complicated to setup and not stable
4) My audrey is now setup in the kitchen (going to post about it now). Its located right next to the microwave. I dont think microwave and wifi go very well together…
16. n74 | January 5th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
please excuse my ignorance but is it possible for your neighbors to also connect to your net if they have an adapter?
17. HeartBeat | January 5th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Good question n74 !
I guess if they are getting their electricity from the Same source then yes!!
That’s interesting to find out … Mark !
18. Mark | January 5th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
tried it from my neighbors place, i could connect to my network
19. HeartBeat | January 5th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
I found some info mark .. it says that all devices should be on same power circuit ! It seams you and your neighbor have the same circuit.
Is there any vacant flat beside you ? lol
20. Mark | January 6th, 2009 at 12:00 am
oops, i meant i COULDN’T connect to my network. We are on a different circuit.
21. HeartBeat | January 6th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Aha :)
But this could be a problem on big houses cause most big houses have more than one circuit so you wont be able to use it on all power points.
However still very useful.
22. rampurple | January 6th, 2009 at 12:38 am
maybe you should change the title of the post from brands for less to experimenting with ethernet over power.
23. Abdullah | January 6th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
I saw an ad for the same system in infoConnect I can’t recall the company’s name! anyone?
24. Rob | January 6th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Anyone know where to get Ethernet over Power in Kuwait? I dropped by @ Brands for Less, but sold out, of course. Any alternatives? I already visited some shops in Bin Khaldoun street, but most did not even know what the stuff is about.
25. HeartBeat | January 6th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
D-Link Ethernet Over Power on Amazon for 10KD
http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-DWL-P200-Power-Ethernet-Adapter/dp/B0002MH3HO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1231261501&sr=8-2
26. Mark | January 6th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
thats Power over Ethernet not Ethernet over Power. Big difference.
27. HeartBeat | January 6th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Well I got confused a bit when I was reading the description but it seams to function both ways .. both power and data can be transmitted up to 100m using standard Ethernet cabling.
That means according to the description if not mistaken .. that you can have an internet device of 5v or 12v (such as an internet camera or an additional Access Point) away from any power sources having the D-link transmitting power and data to the internet device at the same time.
If this is right then it is a great device and cheap.
28. Mark | January 6th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
It doesn’t work both ways. One turns power lines into network lines the other turns network lines into power. Both have completely different uses and you can’t use one instead of the other.
What I have been talking about in the comments is Ethernet over Power and its supposed to be another option instead of wifi and regular ethernet.
29. Sam | January 6th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
But it’ll transmit through ethernet (power and data). It’s a different concept and not like the one Mark bought (which is more expensive).
30. Sam | January 6th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Sorry, Mark, you beat me to it.
31. HeartBeat | January 6th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Wait .. no its different!
This is the diagram http://www.dlink.com/products/resource.asp?pid=332&rid=1184&sec=0
Having this with the Ethernet over Powe would be a great solution.
I guess we have found one more gadget!
Here is an EOP
32. Mark | January 6th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
PoE
33. HeartBeat | January 6th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Here is an EOP for 22KD
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-XE102G-Wall-Plugged-Ethernet-Extender/dp/B000ERAIQ0/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1231262834&sr=8-3
34. Sam | January 6th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Yes, this is the right one.
35. Mark | January 6th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Thats 110v and doesn’t work in Kuwait. You also can’t use a 220v>110v converter, it won’t work.
36. HeartBeat | January 6th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
LOL
I am sneaking out tonight to steal yours Mark!
37. Mark | January 6th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
you should have passed by brands for less when i first posted this ;)
38. TanGo | January 7th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Thank you Mark and all,
this is very educational!
39. Rob | January 7th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
We know now the ins and outs, but can we get the stuff anywhere in Kuwait (other than @ Brands for Less where they were sold out)?
40. GuruDev | January 8th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
IPlanet sells them in hawally. On the first floor in the complex connected to McD’s. They have had them for over 3 years now and they were priced at KD 30 for a pair then!
41. Rob | February 8th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Went to Brands for Less last night and found the Powerline adapters. 3 for KD 20 this time… They were last three, again
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