Ethernet over power - How does it effect pings?

Tesla

Tesla

Tesla

Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2003
Posts
17,598
Location
Bristol, UK
Hello,

I have a quote friday for a network install. The customer want's wired as her kids are WoW obsessed.

I am unsure of the cost of my cat5e quote yet but would like to know an alternative, ethernet over power. How well does this hardware work when being used demandingly by games and such?

I have installed a few before and used Netgear products. They worked well but ping and response was not a primary priority in these installs.

Thanks,

Chris
 
I wouldnt have though it'd make any difference, I'd assume it would use the 2 spare pairs in the cable for the power and leave the data pairs alone.
 
I've tried a couple ethernet over power networks and haven't been a fan of them.. For the cost of Cat5 nowadays and even Cat6 (305m ~£60), I would always go that route! :)
 
You should find the difference is negligable provided the electrical wiring is decent (and quite possibly better than wireless), but the cost is prohibitive if you can feasibly use cat5e/cat6 (~£100 for a pair that do 85Mbps).

omne said:
I wouldnt have though it'd make any difference, I'd assume it would use the 2 spare pairs in the cable for the power and leave the data pairs alone.
Click to expand...

You're confusing Ethernet over Power (aka HomePlug, network connections using your electrical wiring) with Power over Ethernet.
 
tolien said:
You should find the difference is negligable provided the electrical wiring is decent (and quite possibly better than wireless), but the cost is prohibitive if you can feasibly use cat5e/cat6 (~£100 for a pair that do 85Mbps).



You're confusing Ethernet over Power (aka HomePlug, network connections using your electrical wiring) with Power over Ethernet.
Click to expand...

They're getting cheaper :) Some just came in where I work on our Advent range. £50 for a pair of 85Mbps adapters, or thats what my PDT said, guess it could be a pricing error, looks like they're basically rebadged other manufacturer gear or cheap chinese produced ones, but as long as they work, its a good sign of imminent price drops in the market. They haven't shown up on the company website yet though, so Im guessing they might be store exclusive, or brand new stock, either way, as long as they work, 2 85Mbps adapters for £49.99 seems a bargain.

Im tempted to pickup a pack on payday if we still have any in, so I can get rid of this damned wireless, it probably won't be a huge improvement, but should help with network media streaming, as the wireless we have is rather poor for it. Should help prevent signal drop too, the home wiring is only about 10-15 years old, so I'd imagine it shouldnt be awful, even if not great.
 
Last edited:
Aye, CAT5e/6 is cheaper, but its not as easily usable, nor always acceptable, whereas homeplug gives the nice medium of being out the way like Wireless, whilst retaining the reliability of wired networking. Throughput tests show it to usually be ahead of Wireless for speed as well :)
 
I didn't notice any difference with ping going from wireless to ethernet over power, though I get about x4-5 bandwidth.

Jokester
 
I would always advocate laying the proper cat5 / 6 cable.

Is this for a customer?

There are ways to route cables without the hassle of pulling thorugh wall and ripping the decor
Trunking - can get all sorts
Hollow Laminate edging
Hollow Skirting boards
Under floor boards
If there is attic space above, can be wired from above.
Some times there is space behind skirting and, under room threshold strips
 
whitecrook said:
I would always advocate laying the proper cat5 / 6 cable.

Is this for a customer?

There are ways to route cables without the hassle of pulling thorugh wall and ripping the decor
Trunking - can get all sorts
Hollow Laminate edging
Hollow Skirting boards
Under floor boards
If there is attic space above, can be wired from above.
Some times there is space behind skirting and, under room threshold strips
Click to expand...

Yep for a customer and thanks for the info but I am aware of ways to neatly run cables.

The customer lives in a big old victorian house but the main issue is that the house is rented so I thought offering a solution she could take with her when moving would be a good idea.

The product sounds as good as wireless, but how does it compare to proper Cat5e network?

Also, to run 2 pc's do I need 4 homeplugs or 3?
 
I switched to HomePlug because I got annoyed with the unreliability, especially when someone turns the microwave on.

HomePlug is MUCH bette than wireless for gaming, I would go for that.
 
Last edited:
Tesla said:
Yep for a customer and thanks for the info but I am aware of ways to neatly run cables.

The customer lives in a big old victorian house but the main issue is that the house is rented so I thought offering a solution she could take with her when moving would be a good idea.

The product sounds as good as wireless, but how does it compare to proper Cat5e network?

Also, to run 2 pc's do I need 4 homeplugs or 3?
Click to expand...

You only need a homeplug at each end of the power line.. You can use a switch to split the connection into several computers.. I've got one homeplug for my server to feed signal into the power line, and another in the living room to convert the signal back into a ethernet cable. I also have a switch in the living room "splitting" the connection into 8 (8 port switch) to connect Xbox, PVR, etc.

So for 2 PC's (assuming they are in different rooms) you need 2 plugs.. If you have the router in a third location you need another homeplug for that room.

I bought the 200mb version, but for my use (mainly streaming video to xbox) I wish I bought the 85mb version, much cheaper.
 
I have 2 homeplug networks ones 85mbit and the other 200mbit but don't expect anything much higher then 10mbit speeds :)

Pings are about 1-5ms on both
 
Thanks for the info. I think I will recommend homeplug to my customer as when they move they can take it with them (they rent).
 
For what it's worth

Standard Ethernet Connection: Draytek 2600G Router


2 Devices connected using Cat 5e Ethernet cable to a switch

Size of file

4,571,424 KB

Time For Wired

7 miniutes 12 seconds

average network utilisation 92-94% of LAN adapter

Ping results

Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128





Ethernet Over Power using Netgear HDX101 adapters



1 Device connected using Cat 5e Ethernet cable to a switch, the other device connected downstairs using 2 Powerline adapters into a switch


Size of file

4,571,424 KB

13 Minutes 20 seconds

Network utilisation at most 53%, at worst 30%, varying over time, less stable than wired.

Ping results

Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom