Best way to get bandwidth to the loft? Wireless/powerline? Other ideas?

Randall8686

Randall8686

Randall8686

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So basically i can no longer run ethernet cables to the loft (dont ask) and my media server is in the loft. Its plugged in with 300mbps powerline adapters and im getting 2.9 megabytes per second transfer speed so getting about 10% of what they "should" do i have a decent wireless router that i can get about 80 megabytes per second transfer rate on (rt-ac87u) so a decent wireless option would worl. Ideally i would like 30megabytes per second as some of my 4k films are reaching 25. So the main item is a n54l running xpenology. Also a genuine synology and a IBM thinkserver. So i could

1) install a wireless card into the thinkserver and some how share it to a switch?
2) get some kind of wireless switch?
3) defent powerline adapters?
4) any other idea's?

Ti Jay
 
If I can find it, I have a d-link dir 615 flashed with dd-wrt that I've used as a wireless repeater for years, (but it was in conjuction with another dd-wrt based router, which made it easier to use as an extender) that you can have for postage. It won't perform as well as the above mind you.
 
Dont know what power line adapters you are using but id recommend just upgrading them
Grab some Devolo ones as they maintain their speed much much better than TP-link equivalents over long and poor wiring
 
Reason for cabling not being possible is had new rooms built onto the house and some decorating etc, forgot at the time to run cables and doing it bow would mean undoing all the hard work....

I have some cheapy tp link powerlines at the moment. But will any powerline offer the ability to get to 300-400mbps? I know some advertise 1000mbps but seriously????
 
This is what i hve at the moment (i actually used internal cable and its still fine 5 years later) but its the wrong side of the house. I could do it again but really wanted a "easy" solution and sinse i have a high speed wireless router thought maybe i could actually use it?

I could i guess run a new cable but just really fancied a plug and play option. I know you cant beat a cable but surely this fancy wireless stuff is getting some decent speeds now?
 
JoeF1 said:
Can't get over how nice that looks for a repeater :eek:
Click to expand...

I have it and it glows up a nice red colour too. A bit gimmicky and "gaming" type of peripheral in that sense.

Performance well it doesn't work miracles but before where I was getting very little signal and constant dropouts this thing gets a pretty good connection which it then extends but I also have my consoles plugged in too using ethernet. They now get a solid connection. I am getting 2 out of 3 bars on the repeater but if I move the repeater outside the room I get 3 out of 3 bars so again walls are it's weakness.

It works very well but don't expect miracles. I'm now thinking of upgrading my SH3 to something a lot better to take advantage of the repeater. I have a 200MB connection and whilst the connection I get is good I will never be able to max it using the SH3 due to only getting 2/3. Going to get a one of those fancy Ubiquiti Pro AP's and a router or gateway to use with it however not at the moment when i have a few other things sorted.
 
The only acceptable solution is running a cable, be it outside and back in or up through a wall. Ask an electrician for help to run it. Run 2 of them.
 
bledd said:
The only acceptable solution is running a cable, be it outside and back in or up through a wall. Ask an electrician for help to run it. Run 2 of them.
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Got a different situation but looking at the same set of options. In my case it's down the garden to an outbuilding and quite a distance from the house and whilst I still see a lot of difficulty in where exactly I can run a cable I think it's probably the only practical solution over such a distance. Just wondering bledd why you are recommending running 2 cables? Also any restrictions to consider on cable length?
 
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If you're doing 1, 2 is just as easy (in case one ever develops a fault or is damaged..)

100M is the recommended max length between devices. Decent CAT5E probably works OK up to around 130-150M
 
bledd said:
If you're doing 1, 2 is just as easy (in case one ever develops a fault or is damaged..)

100M is the recommended max length between devices. Decent CAT5E probably works OK up to around 130-150M
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info bledd, makes sense.

Just to weigh in on the OP. I get the annoyance of having to undo work to lay cables but I don't think there's any denying it's probably your most reliable solution. Our phone lines come in overhead so the router is in the loft. Wired connections are fine and wireless sufficient for internet usage over most of the first and ground floor but even with an extender there are still dead zones and for wireless transfers between clients it can't come close to wired. I've no doubt you can get a wireless or homeplug solution to work but I think you'll be soon yearning for some ethernet cable.
 
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