Gaming over PowerLine adapters

Talon · 13 Sep 2011 at 11:49

Surge Protected extension leads may cause some bother with them though.

You can get model with a pass through socket.

HeX · 13 Sep 2011 at 11:50

I use the TP Link 200mbps efforts listed above through a 4way power bar (2m cable), through the house wiring, then along a 10m power reel to the PC under the stairs and I get the full 100mbps that my router allows and pings like it was plugged directly into the router. Can't get better than that!

Took all of 5mins to set up as well. Brilliant things they are.

happy_2008 · 15 Sep 2011 at 09:37

So they are practically as reliable as ethernet cable?

I was worried that my pings would drop a lot

KIA · 15 Sep 2011 at 13:41

happy_2008 said:
So they are practically as reliable as ethernet cable?

I was worried that my pings would drop a lot

Packet loss?

happy_2008 · 21 Sep 2011 at 10:18

Installed my TP Link Powerline yesterday and have to say im rather impressed despite using them through a cheap Asda extension lead.

However, sometimes i tend to experience lag spikes and im wondering if this is the server or me???

magicroundabout · 21 Sep 2011 at 10:47

happy_2008 said:
Installed my TP Link Powerline yesterday and have to say im rather impressed despite using them through a cheap Asda extension lead.

However, sometimes i tend to experience lag spikes and im wondering if this is the server or me???

homeplugs aren't to be used through extension leads. they have to be pluged directly into the mains. this will be why you're getting spikes

happy_2008 · 21 Sep 2011 at 11:01

Thought so but its only temporarily

beejjacobs · 21 Sep 2011 at 23:36

yeah mine just don't work at all through surge protected extension leads. So much better than wireless, such a good decision

HangTime · 22 Sep 2011 at 01:08

Can people provide some ping data (min/max/avg over 10+ pings) to their router so I can get an idea of what sort of pings to expect with powerline networking?

My office is two floors above the master socket so it might be a nice solution for me, but I'm extremely fussy about pings so if it works out at more than a couple of ms I'll give it a miss.

moogle · 22 Sep 2011 at 01:40

HangTime said:
Can people provide some ping data (min/max/avg over 10+ pings) to their router so I can get an idea of what sort of pings to expect with powerline networking?

Here you go

Command Line said:
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Moogle>ping 192.168.1.1 -n 25

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 25, Received = 25, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 5ms, Average = 3ms

C:\Users\Moogle>

My pings to bbc.co.uk are roughly the same as they were when I was connected via ethernet cable. I am on the 2nd floor though so it could be due to a good route of cable. Using the utility I get around 80-60% quality on the line and it shows as 160-180Mbps.

However they definately are better than wireless. Although with the ones I have (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-032-TP&groupid=46&catid=1604) the throughput varies so if you've got internet speeds of 50Mbps+ then the powerline could limit you depending on how decent your cabling is.

But I guess that's what happens with all homeplugs.

I did do a bit of testing and when plugged into a new surge protected power strip the signal would be really bad, still better than wireless 54g but it'd be low. When I plugged it into an old powerstrip (non surge protected) the signal between the plugs was at its best.

I read somewhere that in some powerstrips they use stranded cable instead of solid core and some old strips have solid cores which make for a better signal. I've also got one in a 3 way cube adapter and it doesn't affect the quality of the signal much.