Internet & Powerline's

chili

chili

chili

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Joined
19 Mar 2011
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822
Ok brief rundown, last 4yrs i have been using an alienware laptop m17x r3 with a killer network card in it always used over wifi at home with perfect connectivity and no issues at all also have sky fibre broadband. live in an apartment or flat whichever you want to call it (not shared with anyone else) router in in the main hall main room where i lounge is about 10ft away through 1 wall. my wife and son all connect with no issues aswell.

So recently i purchased a new stand alone pc because i missed my old rig and above all miss a decent size screen to game on, main game i play is eve online anyway the new pc has the Asus Z97I-Plus Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard and i currently connect it via wifi ( for female reasons ie THE WIFE i am not allowed to run a cable from the router into the front room ) this mobo comes with a little aerial thing and i am thinking that it may not be a strong or reliable as the killer card i have in the laptop because when trying to play i get random socket closed errors and dc'd from my game. socket closed i believe is caused by packet loss not 100% sure so don't quote me on that.

My alternative solution is to use a pair of powerline adaptors from either tp-link or devolo or someone else and this is where i need advice or help in choosing the correct items most of these items in the sub £60 area have 10/100mbps. My sky fibre is 40meg line i generally get 35-36meg connection speed i live quite close to the street box and exchange So i am guessing that i don't need to pay out for a powerline with a gigabyte port on it and that the 10/100 will be good enough for my needs.

I don't think i need a set that has a pass through plug on it, i have been to currys, maplins nad argos to see what they have in stock and there is a wide selection available. as i have no real issues with my current wifi and current laptops etc i am thinking i only need to get a simple powerline for a wired connection.

do these powerlines really work well?

this is what i am looking at now
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1090930.htm

or should i choose a wifi one aswell?
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1168680.htm

can these be left plugged in permanatly and switched on all the time?
do they need to be repaired with each other if unplugged?
 
Last edited:
They can be unplugged and they'll remember.

My set, the TP-Link Nano 500Mbps, similar to the small one in the second link was generally fine but ocassionally disconnected themselves and needed to be power cycled to regain their link. I eventually got tired of this and just ran a cheap Cat5e cable.
 
I've got TP-Link ones, they're pretty good though I'd probably go Devolo next time even though they are quite a bit more expensive. All three of mine have failed and been replaced under warranty.

They do work well, but ultimately their effectiveness is reliant on your electrical wiring so results can and do vary.
 
I have the BT pack of three - One in lounge for WiFi to Nexus 7 and it is also Ethernet plugged into Blueray DVD player which connects to net for Youtube - never stuttered yet.

Other is in bedroom for backup PC and connected by Ethernet - WiFi is also very good.

Only downside I can see is cables plug in top so unused Ethernet socket get's full of dust.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...4979!&ef_id=VWq@1AAABZrUUKBr:20150608073346:s

Dave
 
Does anyone think there are any major differences between brands other than price? Currys are doing devolo twin pack for £50 which i thought quite good.
 
Tealc said:
Yes those are the ones.

They'd last about a fortnight and then one would need the power cycle, and that's just across the living room in a one year old house. They were fine for the first 6 months in a different house though.
Click to expand...

mine had a similar issue after the PC went into sleep, they got stuck in some kind of power save feature where the power light flashes, seems to have been fixed with the most recent firmware update
 
Tealc said:
They can be unplugged and they'll remember.

My set, the TP-Link Nano 500Mbps, similar to the small one in the second link was generally fine but ocassionally disconnected themselves and needed to be power cycled to regain their link. I eventually got tired of this and just ran a cheap Cat5e cable.
Click to expand...


This !
I installed a couple of cat 5e cables over the weekend due to seemingly random disconnections.
Very annoying !!!
 
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