Which Wireless PowerLine?

chouglez

chouglez

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Planning to invest in a Wireless PowerLine so that the signals can reach the upper floors of house.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Many thanks.
 
I use one of these and it has never let me down:-

Netgear
 
I bought a pair of second hand Comtrend 902 ones which are 200mbps and have been working fine.
 
gramps said:
I use one of these and it has never let me down:-

Netgear
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Yes thanks. This looks like something with a future solution of streaming media etc.
 
I use the devolo ones. Especially the one in my lounge with wireless n and a 3 port switch is handy. Just use the simply 200 versions which are fine for streaming hd so let alone anything else :)
 
hi everyone

i think i'm going to order a couple of the wired powerline adapters to try out the system (there's a couple of good deals on 200mbps sets at the moment)

trying to be sneaky, rather than plugging in an ethernet cable to a device in the house's deadzone, can you connect the ethernet cable to *something else* to create another wireless point?

for example, if you had an old router, or bought a cheap one, could you plug that in?
 
just found this ... seems so, though may be a bit fiddly...
 
only thing to watch out for is that while the old router as a wireless extender does work, a lot of the time devices wont roam properly. same applies for some dedicated extender devices.

for example device connects initially at power on to router A as it has the strongest signal. device then moves to a different location where router B is strongest but retains connection to router A until it runs out of signal or the connection is reset.
 
neil_g said:
only thing to watch out for is that while the old router as a wireless extender does work, a lot of the time devices wont roam properly. same applies for some dedicated extender devices.

for example device connects initially at power on to router A as it has the strongest signal. device then moves to a different location where router B is strongest but retains connection to router A until it runs out of signal or the connection is reset.
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aha... so in effect you're setting up 2 different wifi networks, rather than 'sharing' the 1?

so it should be fine if your devices are stationary/stay in range of the respective router... but things like mobiles may get a bit confused if they're moving about a lot...
 
benners said:
indeed you can... I just wanted to know if my question was a possibility, as I'll be getting the wired homeplugs and have a spare router knocking about :)
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Ahh, I use a powerline system in my parents' house as the Wifi doesn't extend upstairs, I tried to use a router, flashing the firmware etc, and it just wouldn't work right. I just went for a cheap access point, as I wanted to plug in other devices by ethernet too.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/edim...ange-extender-access-point-with-5-port-switch
 
benners said:
aha... so in effect you're setting up 2 different wifi networks, rather than 'sharing' the 1?

so it should be fine if your devices are stationary/stay in range of the respective router... but things like mobiles may get a bit confused if they're moving about a lot...
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effectively.. kind of.

it depends on the device and its ability to roam wireless connection to the strongest source. like you say stationary devices will (or at least should) connect to the strongest source off the bat though.
 
neil_g said:
effectively.. kind of.

it depends on the device and its ability to roam wireless connection to the strongest source. like you say stationary devices will (or at least should) connect to the strongest source off the bat though.
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thanks Neil, really appreciate it :)
have ordered a pair of homeplugs to see if they work at all in the house, with the main objective being to hook up the Sky Anytime+ service... but will have a play around as well to see if I can 'create' a second wireless point :)
 
Why 200Mbps plugs? Why not 500Mbps?
 
Always used Netgear, never had a problem

They also do them with wireless now
 
pleased to say the TP-Link ones I bought from Amazon have worked perfectly... up and running in minutes nothing to install, etc.

i noticed that the adapters had mac addresses and passwords printed on them, what are they for?
 
am using 3 from TP Link.

after few months of usage, had to unplug and plug back in one of them as it 'froze'
apart from that, no problems whats so ever.
 
benners said:
pleased to say the TP-Link ones I bought from Amazon have worked perfectly... up and running in minutes nothing to install, etc.

i noticed that the adapters had mac addresses and passwords printed on them, what are they for?
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You can use those to make your power line network private :)
 
dejongj said:
You can use those to make your power line network private :)
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aha, now that would make sense... so currently it would only be 'open' to anyone that hardwire connects to one of the adapters?
 
benners said:
aha, now that would make sense... so currently it would only be 'open' to anyone that hardwire connects to one of the adapters?
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It has been a while since I set mine up, however iirc when you buy a pair they are already paired. However if someone else is also using the same mains ring they could integrate with your network if they put a plug on it as well. As such you could (must?) use the software to lock it down so that you have a secure point to point connection.
 
chouglez said:
Planning to invest in a Wireless PowerLine so that the signals can reach the upper floors of house.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

Devolo's are simple to use and work a treat. I use the 200mbps ones. Also have one wireless on which I have plugged into a socket in a separate section of the house and it transmits the wireless signal perfectly all over.
 
rags said:
Also what would you need 500mbps for. 200mbps is more than enough for anything I can think of.
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Indeed, I'm quite happily having two separate 1080p streams going at the same time on my home network. I get an effective 187mbps out of them so I guess my wiring is pretty good. The Internet itself is the slowest link for me. Only reason for faster models would be if you regularly do big data transfers across them (other than streaming), or just because you can :)
 
rags said:
Also what would you need 500mbps for. 200mbps is more than enough for anything I can think of.
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bandwidth is very subjective, thats almost like saying "i have 2mb adsl and i cant think why anyone would ever need 40mb".

if youre streaming HD content (which will use alot/most of the bandwidth on a 200) while another user is doing other tasks 500 will give enough overhead for both.
 
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rags said:
Also what would you need 500mbps for. 200mbps is more than enough for anything I can think of.
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Because you don't get anywhere near the quoted speed out of them. I have a 500Mbit pair and I get 60Mbps actual between the computers.
 
neil_g said:
if youre streaming HD content (which will use alot/most of the bandwidth on a 200) while another user is doing other tasks 500 will give enough overhead for both.
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Depends how it is encoded... I was getting stuttering with a wireless connection that maxed at 21Mbps. No stuttering with a 60Mbps Powerline...
 
neil_g said:
bandwidth is very subjective, thats almost like saying "i have 2mb adsl and i cant think why anyone would ever need 40mb".

if youre streaming HD content (which will use alot/most of the bandwidth on a 200) while another user is doing other tasks 500 will give enough overhead for both.
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Are you sure it will use most of the bandwidth on a 200? I mean a typical blu-ray 1080p/24 will be encoded at bandwidth of around 35. Both of-course in megabits/second or Mbps. I have regularly stream two movies in our house, and still continue my 'business' just fine. Ofcourse 500 gives extra headroom, I won't argue against that, but 200 shouldn't be a bottle neck except for the most demanding.
 
dejongj said:
Are you sure it will use most of the bandwidth on a 200? I mean a typical blu-ray 1080p/24 will be encoded at bandwidth of around 35. Both of-course in megabits/second or Mbps. I have regularly stream two movies in our house, and still continue my 'business' just fine. Ofcourse 500 gives extra headroom, I won't argue against that, but 200 shouldn't be a bottle neck except for the most demanding.
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av forums (and other sources) recommend HD content needs around 75mbps and like andy said most home plugs dont actually work to the full stated speeds. also quallity of electrical cabling comes into play.
 
neil_g said:
av forums (and other sources) recommend HD content needs around 75mbps and like andy said most home plugs dont actually work to the full stated speeds. also quallity of electrical cabling comes into play.
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I agree they don't work to the full stated speeds, and not all are equal either. With the Solwise ones I used to get around 130mbps, and now with the Devolo ones I get a consistent 187mbps. It does indeed depend on your wiring.

But just think about it, very few stream full blu ray bandwidth anyway. Heck even on my Oppo I have to synchronise the ISOs to a local disc as it can't read them from a network and I don't want to downscale to put a 3D in a mkv container. Anyway the point is, most streaming the majority of the people do will nowhere near be a bit stream of 35mbps, more like 1-2mbps for DVDs and possibly 3-8mbps for mkv conversions. Yes additional headroom is required, but not that much in my experience.
 
dejongj said:
I agree they don't work to the full stated speeds, and not all are equal either. With the Solwise ones I used to get around 130mbps, and now with the Devolo ones I get a consistent 187mbps. It does indeed depend on your wiring.
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I use the Solwise ones. My sync speed is 150ish (from memory, but certainly over 100). My throughput is around 60Mbps - tested with iperf and varying packet sizes.
 
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