Powerline on travel adapter VS Wifi over USB/PCI Latency increase/Connection Stability

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Powerline on travel adapter VS Wifi over USB/PCI Latency increase/Connection Stability

plo009

107 posts

Master Geek

#140796 20-Feb-2014 15:00

So i'll finally be getting VDSL by the end of the month, once the chorus technician comes over and install the master filter, there will only be one socket in which i can plug the modem and router into which most likely wont be in my room and dragging meters of Ethernet cable around the carpet or rooftop isn't exactly viable either, which will force me to connect either via powerline or ethernet.

From what i can understand in a nutshell

Powerline would have better connection stability and lower latency as well as higher transfer speed while the effectiveness highly depends on the wiring of the house.

On the other hand going with wifi would probably give me more guaranteed results but have higher latency due to interference possibly increased latency over usb compared to pci as well?

The reason why i say powerline on travel adapter is that some kits simply sell for as much as half the price including shipping and handling compared to NZ shops on amazon, well if they actually work in NZ with a travel adapter that is.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Adapter-Starter/dp/B00AWRUICG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392858350&sr=8-1&keywords=powerline

Btw, i'll be using a Draytek V130 and TP-Link 1043ND running gargoyle if this helps.

Any information and advises are greatly appreciated, many thanks guys.

Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#991267 20-Feb-2014 17:50

Your post is really confusing. You say powerline or Ethernet. Then proceed to talk about wifi?

I'm not sure what you mean about USB and PCI when referring to wireless?.
Perhaps consider rewriting / rewording your original post to make this more clear.

Just FYI wifi doesn't have much latency. I rely on it a lot at home, and when I play the odd game I can get like 6ms ping to Servers halfway across the country. So I don't think that latency is worth worrying about in your considerations.

plo009

107 posts

Master Geek

#991277 20-Feb-2014 18:03

Dairyxox: Your post is really confusing. You say powerline or Ethernet. Then proceed to talk about wifi?

I'm not sure what you mean about USB and PCI when referring to wireless?.
Perhaps consider rewriting / rewording your original post to make this more clear.

Just FYI wifi doesn't have much latency. I rely on it a lot at home, and when I play the odd game I can get like 6ms ping to Servers halfway across the country. So I don't think that latency is worth worrying about in your considerations.

Hmm, sorry if i didn't make it clear, what i'm trying to learn more about is how different wireless network cards behave as there are ones that connect to a pc using different interfaces i.e via pci slot or usb port.
Regarding ethernet cable, what i'm trying to say is i prefer not to drag a ethernet cable from room to rooms, i know they can maintain speed and latency without degrade for up to 100m but not too convenient and aesthetically pleasing in the house.

andrewNZ

2487 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#991278 20-Feb-2014 18:03

If you get powerline working, then it will continue to work.

If you go wifi, it can have serious issues at any time due to interference. Wifi is great for general web surfing etc. but I wouldn't rely on it for downloads or backups.

As an example of how hard wifi can be to troubleshoot. I am aware of a wireless internet provider which is having serious issues in part of their network due to what they now suspect is interference. They've been working for several weeks to try to isolate the issue so they can eliminate it. There is currently no end in sight.

plo009

107 posts

Master Geek

#991303 20-Feb-2014 18:47

Hmm, i'm leaning more towards powerline, but anyone know or tried using one with a travel adapter? Also worried as i have no idea how the power routes around the house.

webwat

2036 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#991478 20-Feb-2014 23:06

andrewNZ: If you get powerline working, then it will continue to work.

If you go wifi, it can have serious issues at any time due to interference. Wifi is great for general web surfing etc. but I wouldn't rely on it for downloads or backups.

Yup I agree with that. Not too bad for downloads though as long as its not your file backups or time sensitive stuff like gaming. Its not the latency itself you are worried about, its lost packets caused by interference/congestion that looks like "lagging". Are you sure you can't get ethernet to your room? Often ceiling or under floor is not so hard to do, but try to put a jackpoint at each end so you don't have cables hanging out of the wall. If Someone else shares your internet you might be able to run another ethernet cable to their room too.

Either way USB tends to be slow, but probably still faster than your internet so no big deal unless you have stuff you do on your LAN.

Time to find a new industry!

lokhor

2858 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#991708 21-Feb-2014 11:25

I'm using TPLink PA411 Powerline adapter and I didn't have an issue when my internet was only ADSL2+ syncing at 10mbps, however now that I have cable with 130mbps I am unable to reach the full potential of the line due to the powerline adapter not being fast enough. Strange thing is that the adapter says it is connecting at over 300mbps and even though it only has a 100mbps jack I would expect to get close to that as opposed to 30mbps max.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.