Powerline adapter speed question

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simon14

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Topic # 194985 1-Apr-2016 17:22

http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=NETDLK5309AV&name=D-Link-PowerLine-DHP-309AV-500Mbps-Starter-Kit

Hi guys, this powerline adapter says it can do up to 500mbps which i know is up to, but why does it then say in description:

Powerline data rate
200 Mbps

Am i missing something?

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1524147 1-Apr-2016 17:37

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Well actually it can only do 100Mbps due to the 10/100Mbps port :)

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robjg63

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Reply # 1524161 1-Apr-2016 18:31

I get around the100 mark out of my Edimax units.

I never noticed that they also have that 10/100 Ethernet restriction as well. Interesting.

Wondering what the 500 is about, perhaps the master unit can possibly run up to 5 slaves at up to 100 each. Never thought about this.

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andrewNZ

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Reply # 1524191 1-Apr-2016 18:48

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200Mb/s because it's full duplex (100Mb/s each way)?

500Mb/s is probably the max speed it can get from the cable.
With these things, multiple devices plugged in share bandwidth. So I imagine that with say 10 plugged in around the house, the max total throughput will be 500Mb/s not 1000Mb/s

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simon14

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Reply # 1524424 2-Apr-2016 09:08

Alright, thanks guys - makes sense i suppose.

Still appears a little miss leading IMO - i initially thought this would be good when we get 1gb/s fibre in that my pc may be about to at least acheive 300 to 500mbps throughput with these but i see this is not the case.

eXDee

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Reply # 1524517 2-Apr-2016 11:22

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Generally with WiFi you take 40% of the quoted speed to get approximately your max real world download throughput.

With these, I usually take 20% of the quoted speed to get the real world throughput estimation. Though this can wildy vary: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/powerline/bar/90-down

Checking those graphs, If you get a 1200Mbps rated unit, you might be able to put through 400-500mbps with multiple streams going, not a single one though.

sbiddle

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Reply # 1524625 2-Apr-2016 15:10

500Mbps is the maximum rate at the PHY layer - much wireless standards which are measured at PHY layer rather than real world.

Crowdie

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Reply # 1524953 3-Apr-2016 00:01

eXDee:

Generally with WiFi you take 40% of the quoted speed to get approximately your max real world download throughput.

The 802.11 overhead depends on a number of factors including whether you are using legacy, 802.11n or 802.11ac radios.

darylblake

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Reply # 1524987 3-Apr-2016 07:45

Yeh these are a mixed bag. The marketing makes it sound amazing.

I have had mixed results. Anywhere from 10~15mbit through to 80mbit. But I hear some of the new ones do a few hundered meg even though they advertise 500/600mbps+

Still you wont beat an ethernet cable/or fibre cable so run a cat5/6 if you can or you want a gigabit connection. In many cases powerline adapters are often better than wifi when connecting 2 zones together, but that's not to say you cant get amazing solid connections off wifi either.

1101

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Reply # 1525789 4-Apr-2016 14:15

darylblake:

I have had mixed results. Anywhere from 10~15mbit through to 80mbit. But I hear some of the new ones do a few hundered meg even though they advertise 500/600mbps+

with another brands "500Mb" units .....
in the same (large) house I had 30Mb in one room & 10Mbs in another : all via wifi. 30Mbs was the best speed , via powerline wifi .
One part of the house was unusable with powerline: the actual unit kept dropping off so had to be moved elsewhere, units in other parts of the house were rock solid.

Powerline is just a compromise ,a best attempt only, for when other better options arnt viable.

As for speed, look at the actual specs & you'll see a different claimed speed to that vague rating on the front of the box.

NonprayingMantis

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Reply # 1525797 4-Apr-2016 14:46

The best way to look at it, IMHO, is to say that it isn't as good as Ethernet but probably better than WIFI
Don't try and get it more specific than that, because it will be mostly guesswork.