Is it worth me getting power line adapters?

mattyjim123

mattyjim123

mattyjim123

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5 Sep 2012
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254
Hello people,

I was wondering if it is worth getting some powerline adapters so I can run ethernet to my room from the router downstairs. It's for a desktop computer. Both the desktop and router are gigabit and quite frankly I've had enough of wireless... I want a good stable connection to my router that will give me better read/write speeds to the hard drive attached to the router.

It's not a particularly new house though... 1950's I think and I'm pretty sure the wiring is original so I'm not sure if it will affect performance.

Is it worth me moving from wireless to ethernet? I would quite like a source of ethernet in my room if I move my Xbox up here too. And is there any good choices for powerline adapters with a budget of around £50 (the cheaper the better though)

Thanks for the help
 
Powerline adapters should perform better than wireless, but they'll still fall a long way short of a cabled connection. There's usually a way to get a cable installed, even if it needs to run externally at some point.

The cost of AV500 adapters is getting more sensible so I'd get those in preference to the AV200 versions. Powerline adapters are one of those items that are always on special offer somewhere, so just have a look around for a good offer.

I have a personal theory that the age of the wiring has little to do with the throughput of Powerline adapters. In fact older wiring could actually be of benefit as there are usually less circuits involved.
 
I really wish I could get a properly wired connection up to my room but seeing as I'm only 16 it's not really much of an option :/ it shouldn't be too difficult to do though: the router is in the hallway and on the other side of the wall where I have mounted the router is the garage... Above the garage is my room but it just means drilling 2 holes... One through to the garage and one ip through the ceiling into my room where I could take up the carpet and floorboards and feed it through where the radiator pipes come through...

And I'm sure it would be a damn sight cheaper aswell.

I was thinking though, if I was to get the powerline adapters, could I use an old netgear router as an ethernet switch to put under my bed for other devices like Xbox, for example?
The router is a Netgear DGN2000

Thanks for the reply
 
Don't drill holes through the ceiling of a garage into the room above. It makes a total mockery of all the extra fire proofing that'll be up there just in case a car catches fire. Crispy fried teenager anyone?

You can use the old router as a switch. You just need to disable its DHCP server before you do.

You can buy flat Cat5e cable that's reasonably easy to hide under carpets.
 
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A car? Haha! Don't be silly... We do what every good Brit does and fill it up with useless crap that we are most likely to never use again :D oh and a couple of appliances... Fridge, freezer tumble dryer :)

I was thinking that but then I would have to take it up the stairs and rip half of the carpet in the house up :o
 
Tumble dryers are infamous for catching fire. :D

It obviously would be possible to route a cable through the garage ceiling, but it needs to be done with proper advice. The size of hole required may be small enough not to matter.

I'd try a set of AV500 adapters from somewhere with a decent returns policy (or borrow a set).
 
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