Best powerline plug for BT Infinity

Tbid · 27 Sep 2011 at 23:38

So, I'm moving into my uncles house next week where they have BT infinity, the Router is downstairs and I'm on the top floor so the signal doesn't quite reach, the house is quite old so I'm skeptical of the wiring quality.

Is there any way I can test it before I purchase the items?? I'm not really bothered about anything except the ability to provide me with the maximum possible internet speed, Would a wireless extender be another thing to look into?

Also price wise I'm not that bothered but I don't want to spend vast amounts.

GeX · 28 Sep 2011 at 00:04

Much better off drilling holes in the walls and running some Cat5e/Cat6 up the outside.

I had some powerline plugs, was impressed at first (94mbit/s) but then when we had a new boiler put in it knocked them down to 30mbit/s - which is not enough for Infinity. Fairly modern wiring in this place.

I gave them to my Dad, they connected at ~15mbit/s at his place. Fine for what we needed it to do, but not much else!

a1ex2001 · 28 Sep 2011 at 12:13

GeX said:
Much better off drilling holes in the walls and running some Cat5e/Cat6 up the outside.

I had some powerline plugs, was impressed at first (94mbit/s) but then when we had a new boiler put in it knocked them down to 30mbit/s - which is not enough for Infinity. Fairly modern wiring in this place.

I gave them to my Dad, they connected at ~15mbit/s at his place. Fine for what we needed it to do, but not much else!

Don't do this running cables up and down the outside of your house is about as tacky as it's possible to be.

Buy a decent set of homeplugs online test them and if they don't work return under the distance selling regs.

happy_2008 · 29 Sep 2011 at 12:27

Im using the TP link ones at the moment for infinity and had no problems whatsoever

GeX · 29 Sep 2011 at 13:36

a1ex2001 said:
Don't do this running cables up and down the outside of your house is about as tacky as it's possible to be.

Only tacky if you're an idiot who's going to use white cable and has no idea how to neatly tack something to a wall.

Could always run it in the cavity if you're that fussed.

Tbid · 2 Oct 2011 at 20:21

Also I'm considering a wireless network extender, I think i'll purchase both and return the one that offers worse performance under DSR, would that be aproblem do you think?

ajf · 2 Oct 2011 at 23:59

Out of interest, why would a boiler affect their performance? Was thinking of getting some but was unsure what might affect them, or whether they might actually affect things themselves?

Egon · 3 Oct 2011 at 00:03

I got the ocuk value ones and they work like a dream. Get full speed as if plugged into the router 37.5Mbps. Really impressed with them, especially for the price.

Faztastic · 3 Oct 2011 at 14:11

tplinks

routers downstairs

im upstairs im getting 165mbps and thats through extensions

GeX · 3 Oct 2011 at 14:21

ajf said:
Out of interest, why would a boiler affect their performance? Was thinking of getting some but was unsure what might affect them, or whether they might actually affect things themselves?

I'm not sure why it reduced their speed. I was just putting it out there as an example of "It was working nicely, and then something changed and it all went bad".

Possibly down to the way the new boiler / heating controls are earthed to the pipes - I'm not sure. I didn't look into it much, just went with some CAT6 instead.

Stanners · 3 Oct 2011 at 17:22

GeX said:
Only tacky if you're an idiot who's going to use white cable and has no idea how to neatly tack something to a wall.

Could always run it in the cavity if you're that fussed.

What and bridge the cavity! don't do this as it can lead to condensation forming on your interior walls!

GeX · 3 Oct 2011 at 18:36

You mean breach?

Cavities tend to have airbricks, drilling a hole a isn't going to make any difference! Seal it up afterwards with a dab of sealant if you really want.