Powerline ethernet adaptors are they worth looking at for home networking a room?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Powerline ethernet adaptors are they worth looking at for home networking a room?

johnstbr

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Topic # 151693 2-Sep-2014 09:13

I'm considering buying a powerline ethernet adaptor but would like to know everyones' views of this type of device. I'm looking at establishing a wired connection to my basement room to improve internet performance. Currently I have a range extender (wifi bridge) plugged into my TV and Xbox. The range extender "talks" to my access point in my garage and is about 8 metres away. The set-up works well most of the time but the internet connection drops out now and then. The drop outs are particularly frustrating for my son who does xbox internet gaming. The issue with the room is that it is a relatively recent renovation and the access is poor - exploring under the house (upper part of house) I can only get within 5m or so of the room. The basement room has been slightly dug out and has concrete foundations. However this is a working sky cable/connection in the room, the cable may be able to be utilised to assist feeding a new cable but I'm unsure given I can't see how it gets all the way into the room. Anyway I think I have three options: 1. Install ethernet connection going under house (upper part of house), possibly utilising the sky cable. 2. Install ethernet by going under and then outside of the house, then drill a hole back into basement room. The hole would be half-way up the wall as the floor of the basement room is below ground level but this could be covered up with the existing bookshelf in the room. It might look a bit ugly but would work. 3. Use a powerline ethernet adaptor by plugging into existing power-point. This should hopefully work but wonder if the new renovation has got different/seperate wiring?? And also I'm concerned that the performance of the power line ethernet connection may not be much better than my existing set-up. The internet will be used to watch movies and for xbox gaming. Also I intend to get an ethernet switch as I'll need to distribute any wired connection to 2-3 devices. Has anyone got any advise? Thanks

coffeebaron

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Reply # 1120249 2-Sep-2014 09:22

Option 2. Do an exterior cable run using outdoor grade cable and through the wall as close as possible to the TV. Is the basement room weatherboard, or block all the way up?

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maxeon

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Reply # 1120250 2-Sep-2014 09:22

I was in a similar situation like you and WiFi drop outs and large file transfers were a real pain.

I recently went out and bought these
http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=NETNCM0507

I can confidently say its far superior than WiFi for sure, I did not do any tests or comparisons but the main issue for me was the the WiFi drop outs. With the above device it fixed it for me, never seen a single drop out for the past 3 weeks.

I have read somewhere online that powerline adapters work well if you don't use Powerboards / Multiport switches.
I am using a Power board as well as a extension cord on both ends and the above device is capable for transmitting good speeds.

johnstbr

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Reply # 1120253 2-Sep-2014 09:32

The room is wetherboard for the upper part of the room and block for the lower part. So it would be easy to feed a cable threw it but it would be high up the wall.

Dynamic

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Reply # 1120254 2-Sep-2014 09:35

I was using a wireless repeater which was doiung a pretty good job most of the time. Recently I bought this set http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=NETEDM5102 and have been really pleased with the results. (Google the model number for a photo.) I was getting dropouts when this was plugged into a powerboard at one end, so I moved it to plug directly into the wall with the powerboard piggybacking on it. In my case the devices are in the lounge and in the non-attached garage.

I have had a set of these before (older slower models) and found that once every few months they would stop talking to each other and I would need to power one off for a few seconds to get them to reconnect.

As coffeebaron says, running a cable would be better. If this is impractical, I'm happy with the PowerLine devices for home use. I would not use them in a commercial installation.

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solaybro

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Reply # 1120265 2-Sep-2014 09:46

I bought some powerline adaptors in April and they worked fine for a few months but recently they have started playing up. They disconnect sometimes and webpages wont load, I have to unplug the ethernet cable wait a few seconds and then reconnect it to fix it. If you know anyone who has some just borrow them for a few days to test it out before you buy so that you know they work fine.