Best Wireless adapter for gaming

Born_2_Kill_83 · 11 Feb 2017 at 12:34

As per my previous thread we didn't go for the house with slow broadband in the end, that and few other things made us keep looking.

We have now had an offer accepted on a house that Virgin provide 300mb so speed is no longer a problem, however the location of the router will be. It's a fair distance from the room I will be using as my office and running an Ethernet cable isn't an option without a load of work.

So I'm going to have to go wireless on my gaming PC and need the best adapter I can find. I don't want to loose Ping speed to the router if I can help it and having maximum download speeds would be a bonus.

So what are you wireless guys using? USB or PCI-E? How can I get the best possible speed. Money not really an issue unless it get's silly.

shankly1985 · 11 Feb 2017 at 12:41

Powerline adapter would be my first call.

The depend a lot on good house wiring and distance can sometimes be an issue.

I get my full sky fibre package speed using an old version of Netgear Powerline 500v
You would want too use the new and latest technology from powerline for that fibre speed you own.

Ryan0r · 11 Feb 2017 at 12:50

Same here, go powerline. I use TP-link here, aren't as robust as I'd like, but could be the building wiring (1892) rather than the devices.

Born_2_Kill_83 · 11 Feb 2017 at 12:55

Didn't think of powerline, the building was built in 1997 and I'm currently buying it off an electrician, who had the building extended (4th bedroom) and he has probably done the cabling himself (why wouldn't you). The living room and bedroom's have cavity channelling for the TV cabling on the wall's which I believe he's done so I would guess the electrical cabling should be pretty good as well.

strumpusplunket · 11 Feb 2017 at 12:56

Thirded. I'm still using a now very old pair of Solwise 200Mbps Homeplugs (1st gen). I get a very reliable and stable connection with about 50Mbps actual throughput and very little added latency.

I've only had to re-pair them three times in five or six years.

Mine are fine for my slow 18Mbps BT line, but the newer tech (AV2, MIMO) gives much better results than I get, even enough for a fast broadband connection like yours if you go top of the line.

Tomsk · 11 Feb 2017 at 13:02

Born_2_Kill_83;30493413 said:
Didn't think of powerline, the building was built in 1997 and I'm currently buying it off an electrician, who had the building extended (4th bedroom) and he has probably done the cabling himself (why wouldn't you). The living room and bedroom's have cavity channelling for the TV cabling on the wall's which I believe he's done so I would guess the electrical cabling should be pretty good as well.

Can you use the cavities to pull e network cable trough?

Ask the electrician if he left any string/rope in the cavities for pulling more cables. Even if he hasn't you may be able to use the existing cables and some string/rope to pull new cables through.

TheVoice · 11 Feb 2017 at 13:06

If you don't mind spending a decent amount, go for the fastest Devolo ones you can get, they always seem to get good reviews. I use TP Link ones and they're fine, but all three I originally bought have had to be replaced under warranty for spontaneously dying within months of each other.

Zefan · 11 Feb 2017 at 13:36

Is an external UTP run off the cards?

Puzzled · 11 Feb 2017 at 14:17

Powerline can be good but don't always work well if the rooms are on separate mains rings. Well worth trying.

I use an Asus AC wireless router and Usb dongle which gives me plenty of speed for my fibre connection but depending on range may not be enough to max your connection. Personally I prefer Usb as I can easily extend the cable and move for a better signal, too close to the PC and speeds drop considerably.

Mariusz · 11 Feb 2017 at 14:24

TheVoice;30493447 said:
If you don't mind spending a decent amount, go for the fastest Devolo ones you can get, they always seem to get good reviews. I use TP Link ones and they're fine, but all three I originally bought have had to be replaced under warranty for spontaneously dying within months of each other.

I've actually had the opposite experience, had 3 sets of different model Develo homeplugs eventually die out of warranty. Now using the fastest TP-LINK plugs available at the same.

r7slayer · 11 Feb 2017 at 14:33

Powerline adapters have been much better for me in nearly every case ive tried. My only issue with my Devolo power lines is the built in powersaving feature which does not turn off even if i select it in the software. If your network goes idle they drop connection to save power. So i have to make sure i get a constant flow of packets. I just use Teamspeak and go afk in it. Good for monitoring my ping/packet loss too. I guess i could create a small script to ping my router every minute but team speak is easier.

shankly1985 · 11 Feb 2017 at 14:40

For Powerlines I will only use Netgear

varkanoid · 11 Feb 2017 at 15:58

Just to offer a grounded (no pun intended) opinion I wouldnt spend the earth on a pair of powerlines as they are not guaranteed to work or give you good speed and then you have wasted your time/money. Which room are you thinking of using the extension 4th room ? Did he update the master fuse box too ? I have a feeling you might have problems with them. My house was built 1991 and powerlines dont work too well. They are okayish if on the same ring but due to the type of master fuse box I have they dont work across rings. I would pick up a cheap second hand pair to try first. Seriously though have a good think once you are in there about running network cable as it really is second to none. I've done it twice now in our house and the routes were not simple. Second route I had to navigate a wall, two doorways and a hallway and if you get some flat network cable and hide it as much as you can round skirting boards and doorways or even under carpet seeing as you havent moved in yet its worth the hassle.