Ethernet Powerline Adaptors.

Prestonian

Prestonian

Prestonian

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This is a gaming related question, despite no mention of a game.

My query is in regards to the reliability of the power-line adapters that allow you to run your internet through your house's wiring, doing away with the need for long ethernet cables going from the modem to the various bedrooms in one's house.

I can't help but imagine that the signal would diminish into the electric wiring network in the house, instead of been tunneled down a dedicated ethernet cable. Is this the case? If so, is it bad enough that it's just not worth using for playing FPS like Project Reality ;¬) ?

If, however, these inventions are the dogs' danglies, which model would you recommend? Does OCUK sell em?

Muchious Thankious in advancious.
 
They're more reliable than wireless (though often will have slightly higher latency). Whether or not they work for you will depend totally on how your house is wired up.

If you want the highest speeds, lowest latency and best reliability then the prime choice is still a wired ethernet connection.
 
I've used these for years and no complaints at all playing FPS (BF3, PS2 etc). House is about 30 years old with wiring the same age if that helps.
I've been using the 85Mbs ones with no problems, but I need another for a PC I've just built from spare parts for the kids. It was only a little more to get 3 new 500MBs ones than another 85Mbs one (they don't work together). As soon as they arrive I'll let you know here if they are any better. I don't expect better internet speed, but I'll try transfering a file or 2 between the PC's on the network.
 
I've been using a cheap set for 4 years now and never had a problem which is good considering I'm a big gamer on the PC and play a lot of MMO's FPS etc. Latency wise I'm still getting the same 40 - 50 ms ping rates in games as I get when plugged directly in via ethernet, also getting the exact same download/upload speeds in general.

It could be it is dependent on the quality of the power cabling in the house, but I can only say in my experience it seems to be exactly the same as being plugged directly in via ethernet.
 
I have been using a Belkin powerline adapter for a few years now and would highly recommend it.

They do say however that the quality of the connection will depend on how your house is wired up, im guessing mine is about 30+ years old. No problems here though.
 
I've been using a pair unbranded ones for a couple of years now. They're 200mb/s rated (I get 2meg/s download speeds),all the info I have on them really.

In the time I've been using them I've moved to 3 houses and they've worked flawlessly in each one with really good speeds. Never had a single issue with them, many times more reliable than wireless.

If your houses wiring allows it just buy a pair, dont have to be anything special to do the job and if they don't work you can always send them back.
 
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I have used them for about a year. Not had a problem with them. Great download speed and ping! Simple and effective! I have Netgear ones!!
 
Uncle Petey said:
Anyone have any idea how well these work with HDMI over ethernet?
Would be nice to not have to run cat5.
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I'd be interested in hearing this too, been thinking of running a hdmi from my PC to the telly in the other room for Steam, this would get around it nicely.
 
I've been using 200mbps TPLink ones for a fair while now, pings and throughput like I was on Cat5, great bits of kit.
 
Using the Netgear 200mbps ones here for a couple of years. Doesn't seem to degrade the ping and as has been stated before the connection is more stable than wireless. I also use them for handling the tv internet as you can use multiple ones around the house
 
Just be aware there are two types of netgear 500mbs powerlines. One has 100mb ethernet port, the other 1gb. The reason for a 500mb internal connection is to pretty much guarantee them being 100mb either end (not guaranteed)
 
ScoTTyBEEE said:
Just be aware there are two types of netgear 500mbs powerlines. One has 100mb ethernet port, the other 1gb. The reason for a 500mb internal connection is to pretty much guarantee them being 100mb either end (not guaranteed)
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Yeah, that's something that hasn't been mentioned really. The advertised speeds of the powerline adaptors should really be taken with a grain of salt. The total bandwidth available is shared in a similar way to WLAN so you'll never see the speeds hit the headline speeds listed on the adaptors.
 
Used them for nearly 3 years.

Definitely recommend them over wifi. My understanding is that for the most part the original problems have been resolved, mine just "work". With a 200Mb pair, I get about 35Mb consistent down. My understanding is that the upload will be the same maximum as the download.

I am unsure how "reliable" they are in the long term though owing to their design as I have had 2 from a "twin pack" which have failed (not turning on) although to give TP-Link their credit, their 3 year RMA process is faultless.

For me, they are more "consistent" than wifi.

I am getting a cat6 run installed in the summer though. Not doing it myself as too lazy and heard Cat6 can be a pain if you dont know what your doing, which relating to that, I dont, so letting someone who knows what they are doing do it.
 
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They're brilliant if you can't connect directly to your router, wireless can get stuffed.
 
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