Will ethernet over powerline work at my house?

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littleheaven

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#1154398 15-Oct-2014 13:01

Spyware: http://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/

Orientate accordingly.

Thanks for the link. Nice looking bit of kit!

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

steve98

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#1155602 15-Oct-2014 18:30

Did you know if you hold the Option key while clicking the wifi icon on your Mac's toolbar it will give you much more useful information about the SSID's it sees - it will tell you what channel each SSID is using, throughput to the connected SSID etc.

This could help you figure out whether the channel you're using is indeed part of the problem.

littleheaven

2130 posts

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#1156101 16-Oct-2014 13:50

steve98: Did you know if you hold the Option key while clicking the wifi icon on your Mac's toolbar it will give you much more useful information about the SSID's it sees - it will tell you what channel each SSID is using, throughput to the connected SSID etc.

This could help you figure out whether the channel you're using is indeed part of the problem.

Thanks Steve. I did have a quick play with that after finding it on Google the other day. It recommended the best channels to use as 11 and 6, however those appear to be the slower ones. I didn't have time to properly review the other info it was displaying though - will check that tonight.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

littleheaven

2130 posts

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#1157515 18-Oct-2014 15:40

Just an update - took a punt and bought an Asus RT-AC68U router which I have bridged to my Spark-supplied Technicolour modem. It's something I had been intending to do since I got VDSL anyway, in preparation for when my street finally gets fibre. I've had it working for about 30 minutes now and the difference is noticeable. Not so much on the main computer which doesn't have 5Ghz wireless (but I am working on a way of cabling that) however I've set up a 5Ghz only network that I've connected the iPads to, and they are hitting up to 30mbps on speed test. I have never had a mobile device get anywhere near that before, so I am stoked! Hooray for clear air. I have a teeny house so the signal is still good in other rooms. Not quite as fast but still faster than the 2.4Ghz. So far I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

graemeh

2078 posts

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#1158302 20-Oct-2014 11:23

littleheaven: Just an update - took a punt and bought an Asus RT-AC68U router which I have bridged to my Spark-supplied Technicolour modem. It's something I had been intending to do since I got VDSL anyway, in preparation for when my street finally gets fibre. I've had it working for about 30 minutes now and the difference is noticeable. Not so much on the main computer which doesn't have 5Ghz wireless (but I am working on a way of cabling that) however I've set up a 5Ghz only network that I've connected the iPads to, and they are hitting up to 30mbps on speed test. I have never had a mobile device get anywhere near that before, so I am stoked! Hooray for clear air. I have a teeny house so the signal is still good in other rooms. Not quite as fast but still faster than the 2.4Ghz. So far I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

That is good to hear. I've just bought the same router to use as a wireless access point.

kharris

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#1158322 20-Oct-2014 11:44

littleheaven: Just an update - took a punt and bought an Asus RT-AC68U router which I have bridged to my Spark-supplied Technicolour modem. It's something I had been intending to do since I got VDSL anyway, in preparation for when my street finally gets fibre. I've had it working for about 30 minutes now and the difference is noticeable. Not so much on the main computer which doesn't have 5Ghz wireless (but I am working on a way of cabling that) however I've set up a 5Ghz only network that I've connected the iPads to, and they are hitting up to 30mbps on speed test. I have never had a mobile device get anywhere near that before, so I am stoked! Hooray for clear air. I have a teeny house so the signal is still good in other rooms. Not quite as fast but still faster than the 2.4Ghz. So far I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

You could always look at getting a wireless receiver for your other computer. I haven't used one for a few years but I remember it not being too bad... connected via USB.

I just did a Google search for 5Ghz wireless usb receiver. There seems to be plenty of options at reasonable prices. Someone here may be able to give you advice on the best brand - sorry as I said I haven't used one for years. May save you re-wiring though.

Kirk

timmmay

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#1158328 20-Oct-2014 11:53

Try 5GHz. I have the only 5GHz router in my area, but there are a dozen 2.4GHz.

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littleheaven

2130 posts

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#1158486 20-Oct-2014 14:00

Thanks, I will definitely look into the wireless receiver, although it may not be needed as between Saturday night and Sunday night I didn't get a speed test on my Mac that was below 30mbps, which astonished me. This morning it was down to 22mpbs but at 9.30am on a Monday I would expect the line speed in general to be slower due to increased traffic. VERY happy with the new router so far. And great to know there are additional options for 5Ghz receiving on the non-enabled equipment.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

kharris

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#1158528 20-Oct-2014 15:02

littleheaven: Thanks, I will definitely look into the wireless receiver, although it may not be needed as between Saturday night and Sunday night I didn't get a speed test on my Mac that was below 30mbps, which astonished me. This morning it was down to 22mpbs but at 9.30am on a Monday I would expect the line speed in general to be slower due to increased traffic. VERY happy with the new router so far. And great to know there are additional options for 5Ghz receiving on the non-enabled equipment.

Well hopefully you don't need it then, but please share your experience here if you do go ahead with a USB adapter

Kirk

littleheaven

2130 posts

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#1158581 20-Oct-2014 15:53

Well hopefully you don't need it then, but please share your experience here if you do go ahead with a USB adapter

I certainly will. I've used an older one before (not 5Ghz) on PC's around the house that didn't have wireless cards - from memory it was a tiny little Edimax - and it worked pretty well. There didn't seem to be much of a loss in speed between that and the wireless card I eventually installed in my 2008 Mac Pro. Never had any connection issues or instability with it. If I find interference starts to become a problem I will definitely get one to try out on my 5Ghz network.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

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