netcom np285 turbo plug ethernet

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rdjacobs

143 posts

Master Geek

#33899 13-May-2009 19:05

Hi is anyone using this at the moment ?
does the broadband speed drop at all like normal wireless does?

any feedback on this product would be cool :)

http://www.netcomm.com.au/__data/assets/file/0009/13689/NP285_Spec_Sheet.pdf

askelon

880 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#214687 13-May-2009 19:20

I run a set here as my phone lines are all downstairs and my server / office upstairs. Have my ADSL router down, plugged in the device, upstairs I have the other end plugged into my server / firewall. Speed wise its alot more consistant than wireless and around the same speed overall. I dont notice any extra lag or anything playing games online. I used to use it to stream my dvd's over my network as wireless was way too unstable.

rdjacobs

143 posts

Master Geek

#214702 13-May-2009 19:52

if i use the turbo plug what sort of speeds will expect then? will i get normal ethernet speeds or does it drop like wireless does?

askelon

880 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#214765 14-May-2009 08:15

The true speeds of ethernet over power is around the same as wireless, just more stable. It definately wont give you full normal ethernet speed. Far from it.

rdjacobs

143 posts

Master Geek

#214794 14-May-2009 10:24

thanks for the feedback

Richard

Ragnor

8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#214933 14-May-2009 23:17

Some more information for you...

1: Regular Ethernet over cat5 network cable is 100Mbit/s full duplex, that means it can send and receive at the same time so theoretically you could be sending at 100Mbit/s and receiving at 100Mbit/s so it has a net bit rate of 200Mbit/s. Think of a 2 lane highway, one lane going north and one lane going south.

2: Wireless is half duplex meaning it has to alternate between sending and receiving. Think ping pong where the ball gets hit back and forth from side to side.

3: Most cheap wireless is 802.11b which has a net bit rate of 11Mbit/s, because it's half duplex that means 5.5Mbit/s max throughput. The 2.4 Ghz wireless band can be crowded with microwaves, cordless phones, other nearby wireless access points causing interference resulting in lower performance.

4: 802.11g has a net bit rate of 54 Mbit/s and a throughput of ~22Mbit/s, it uses the 2.4 Ghz band so the same caveats as 802.11b apply for possible interference.

5: 802.11a has a net bit rate of 54 Mbit/s and a throughput of ~27Mbit/s, it uses the 5 Ghz band for less interference.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11

Homeplug's claim to be 85Mbit not sure whether they are half or full duplex probably half, but in most reviews they seems have a real world throughput of around 10Mbit/s.

I think the homeplug will be better than 802.11b but probably worse than 802.11g or a unless you have a interference problems.