Best powerline set for gaming?

jubei

jubei

jubei

Soldato
Joined
3 Apr 2003
Posts
2,928
Hi guys,

My wireless signal keeps dropping in this shared house and i have to disable/re-enable my wireless network to get it to reconnect.

Despite my virgin cable sucking for gaming at the moment anyway unless i play at 3am i would like to stabilize my connection.

What is the minimum that i need to get my computer connected to the wireless netgear router downstairs and are there any adapters to avoid or must haves etc.

This also doesnt affect my housemates wireless does it?

Cheers all.
 
The network over power cables setup wouldn't effect the wireless at all. It's essentially a bridge on a wired connection. Personally I use the Solwise homeplug adapters (the 85MB version) I have 4 of them in the house total and have never had the SLIGHTEST issue with them. Any number using the same key will talk to each other so the power cables act like a hub (eg 3 plugs will all talk to each other).

If you buy a set they will work out of the box. If you buy 2 sets it takes a bit of working out to get them all on the same key and talking to each other but I got it worked out in an hour or so.

If it's just between you and the router so long as you have spare power sockets near both just buy a set plug em in and forget about them.

Mine go into a switch in each room they are in (shared house and we all have at least a desktop + laptop or a regular guest/gf with a laptop) and they've been VERY solid. Used them in 2 houses, the first with pretty dodgy wiring and a breaker that kept tripping out without causing them any issue.

Basically recommend them very highly :)
 
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Do you need a special router for those to work ?
Is there a wireless version that could be used to extend the range of a wireless signal ?

(Sorry should have googled, i know)

:D
 
You just need a router with one or more ethernet ports. At the simplest level the homeplugs just make a virtual ethernet cable out of the mains wiring. You stick the signal in at one mains plug using an adapter and take it out anywhere on the mains with another adapter.

you can get powerline adapters that take the signal out of the mains and pass it to an inbuilt wifi access point to expand wifi coverage

personally I have a zyxel nbg-918s router with built in honmeplug av (from a high street stores sale £30) that with the latest firmware gives me a wifi access point for the wii and 4 ethernet sockets for the pc and xbox 360 all fed from my adsl router.
 
Only problem I have with powerline stuff is that even with the high end netgear ones - if you have 20mb or 50mb broadband, the best speed you tend to get out of them is 10mb download speed. I always max out at 1mb when downloading if i'm lucky.
 
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It does affect other radio services, MW and SW broadcasts, Admittedly I am a amateur but I live in the middle of nowhere with no neighbours so doesn't really affect me. However, Ofcom have been receiving a lot of complaints, some of the latest ones have been from the TA and other organisations who use the shortwave bands in their professional manner, surely something will be done soon, its amazing how they got ce marked some of them. What do you mean by proper radio, some of the faster speed devices can get to frequencies near FM2 (FM Broadcast band) and if people not being able to listen to broadcast FM become widespread, ofcom will have to act as the broadcasters will have something to say about the millions they pay for their slice of the spectrum ;)
 
Dont confuse the (at least 3 different technologies) used. BT were issuing one form of powerline alliance adapters for their set top box live service. Homeplugs are much more common and do not have the allaeged issues to the same extent if at all.

Regretably the terms seem to be interchangable in ads etc
 
The idea of the virtual cable is a good one but virtual hub is also accurate.

Anything (hub, xbox, router, cable from a wireless access point) going into 1 homeplug is available to all other homeplugs on the same consumer board/circuit breaker/fuse box with the same key.

You can plug in a single machine or the upstream port on a hub/switch/router or a wireless access point/print share/whatever. They simply act as a bridging point between 2 bits of network cable. If you have more than a pair they act as a hub.
 
probably being stupid - but I have never found out how to actually "connect" to the homeplug itself ie to set the key

I bought a couple of sets and they work ok as seperate sets but would be great if I could configure them as a foursome
 
Okay i have finally had enough of my useless wireless that lags me out every few minutes.

Can someone let me know if one of these is better than the other if at all as i want to order a set of these straight away.

Linksys PLK300-UK Powerline AV Ethernet Kit

Netgear HDXB101 Powerline HD Starter Kit

Primary concern is my gaming, but i do like to download the odd large file. Am on a 10meg internet connection but will be moving to 24meg in a few months.

Cheers
 
The difference between the 2 is that the Linksys has a 4 port switch built in that can take up to 4 devices and ocuk rates them up to 100mbps. However, the Linksys website rates them at up to 200mbps.

The Netgear only has the one port, is rated at 200mbps but for several pounds you can buy a cheap 4-port switch and plug the netgear into that.

They both have integrated QoS so its really down to personal choice on which one you want to use.

I personally would go for the Linksys. Less of a hassle as it already has 4 ports and since Cisco took them over, the quality may be better. The look of asthetics of the Linksys look good also.

Edit: Make sure you have another 2 network cables as they only come with 2 themselves. Well, thats if you are going to be plugging any more devices in apart from you're desktop.
 
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Wiggins said:
The difference between the 2 is that the Linksys has a 4 port switch built in that can take up to 4 devices and ocuk rates them up to 100mbps. However, the Linksys website rates them at up to 200mbps.

The Netgear only has the one port, is rated at 200mbps but for several pounds you can buy a cheap 4-port switch and plug the netgear into that.

They both have integrated QoS so its really down to personal choice on which one you want to use.

I personally would go for the Linksys. Less of a hassle as it already has 4 ports and since Cisco took them over, the quality may be better. The look of asthetics of the Linksys look good also.

Edit: Make sure you have another 2 network cables as they only come with 2 themselves. Well, thats if you are going to be plugging any more devices in apart from you're desktop.
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Yeah i would much prefer linksys looks wise i just wasnt sure if they had stability issues or anything as there is no feedback on them and i want to ensure i get the best possible connection.

Not fussed about having a 4 port switch but it cant hurt can it lol. They are only for my desktop atm.

Anyone have the linksys and can confirm they are fast?
 
Does the 4 port switch plug into the router downstairs or is that the part that goes in your room?

Just dont understand how you can have a cable from e.g. ethernet 1 on router downstairs, into a powerline adapter. Then 2 or 3 diff rooms in house with adapters as surely all going into the same ethernet port on main router downstairs how can poss assign diff ips and manage traffic? Am i missing something?
 
In basics, the Powerlines are just an easier way to manage a network than cables.

The Linksys for example would have the plug with the 1 port plugged into the wall and the ethernet lead from the Powerline directly into one of you're routers free ports. The second one with 4 ports will then be used to plug into the mains of you're room and then you have 4 devices you can plug into that. Easy as that really.

You're router will assign different IP's to you're devices as they will tell the router what MAC Address they have. You can connect many devices through the same port of the router, you just need the additional ports/switches for you're devices. For example, i have 4 Powerline adaptors. One in the router, one in the kitchen, one in the master bedroom and one in the spare bedroom. The Powerline in the kitchen is connected to a 4-port switch that enables me to connect 2 PC's and a laptop into it. The master bedroom has a PS3 in it and sometimes a laptop. The spare bedroom has the Powerline connected into another 4-port switch which has a Desktop, 360 and a laptop connected to it. All these devices and Powerline adaptors run to the single Powerline plugged into the port on the back of the router. Sadly, I had to fork out another £250 for 4 decent NETGEAR XAVB101's as the one's I previously had were rated up to 85mbps and lagged especially when I wanted to stream HD and the daughter wanted to play the 360 online. As the Powerline adaptors have encryption built in, when you plug more than 2 into the house mains, you may have to configure them with the same passwords etc.

QoS on the Powerlines will determine that you get the best connection regarding gaming, HD streaming etc.
 
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Wiggins said:
In basics, the Powerlines are just an easier way to manage a network than cables.

The Linksys for example would have the plug with the 1 port plugged into the wall and the ethernet lead from the Powerline directly into one of you're routers free ports. The second one with 4 ports will then be used to plug into the mains of you're room and then you have 4 devices you can plug into that. Easy as that really.

You're router will assign different IP's to you're devices as they will tell the router what MAC Address they have. You can connect many devices through the same port of the router, you just need the additional ports/switches for you're devices. For example, i have 4 Powerline adaptors. One in the router, one in the kitchen, one in the master bedroom and one in the spare bedroom. The Powerline in the kitchen is connected to a 4-port switch that enables me to connect 2 PC's and a laptop into it. The master bedroom has a PS3 in it and sometimes a laptop. The spare bedroom has the Powerline connected into another 4-port switch which has a Desktop, 360 and a laptop connected to it. All these devices and Powerline adaptors run to the single Powerline plugged into the port on the back of the router. Sadly, I had to fork out another £250 for 4 decent NETGEAR XAVB101's as the one's I previously had were rated up to 85mbps and lagged especially when I wanted to stream HD and the daughter wanted to play the 360 online. As the Powerline adaptors have encryption built in, when you plug more than 2 into the house mains, you may have to configure them with the same passwords etc.

QoS on the Powerlines will determine that you get the best connection regarding gaming, HD streaming etc.
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Makes sense now dunno what i was thinking lol :)

As for the linksys, you sure they wouldnt lag a connection like your last ones did? If ocuk only rate at 100meg and the netgear at 200 wouldnt i be better with those?

Gonna order them in morning so need to make my decision tonight.
 
For the Linksys, even though they are rated at 200mbps, they actualy run at a max speed of 100mbps in each direction simultaneously. Please be aware that you will not get 100mbps even though they are rated at that. Hopefully, you should get around 50-70 depending on you're house wiring.

I have found reviews for both Powerlines.

Linksys PLK-300
Netgear HDXB101

Remember that even if you did have Powerlines that did their true speed of 200mbps (chance would be a fine thing), you would need gigabit ports on all routers, switches, PC's and Laptops.

In fact, after looking at both reviews, I would have been swayed towards the Netgear as they seem to give better performance. I get around 70mbps on my Netgear setup which is more than enough for me to stream media and have online gaming at the same time. Even the missus can browse the net at the same time. My wiring is 8 years old so pretty new.
 
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I am forced into using wireless for my desktop PC now and I am getting extremely fed up with the lag spikes in games.

I never even heard of Powerline before but it seems really interesting!!

Do they have to plug straight into a wall socket or can they be plugged into an extension lead?

Are they quite reliable as well?
 
Direct plug into wall best, ordinary extension leads generally OK but BAD if they have filters/surge plugs etc.

Not perfect but if they work in your house they tend to carry on working at the same connection speed. The signal does not tend to lag or die suddenly, all problems I had often with wifi.
 
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