Mesh or powerline...

Friss

Friss

Friss

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4 Nov 2012
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100
Sorry if this is a slightly repetitive with other threads, but I thought I'd see if I can get some specific feedback on the two solutions I'm looking at, as I know very little about networking...

A bit of background, currently I'm just using the router that came from plusnet (:o), which has to sit in the hallway (the only phoneline that it'll connect to), everything connected to WiFi. My PC sits in the spare room (through one wall) which seems fast enough. Everything in the living room (chromecast & audio, steam link, TV and blueray player), which is down the hall and round the corner/through multiple walls, has a very poor connection. Heck, the steam link wont even scroll through my library the connection is that bad.

I rent, so laying wires isn't an option.

Originally I was looking at:
  • TP-link AV2000 powerline in hall, living room and spare room. Seems to be the fastest model, I realise I'll be lucky to get 25% of the "up to" speed
  • switch in spare room to move NAS and printer there with wired connection to PC
  • new router (haven't looked into model), because I'll still want a better router & wifi.
With those powerline adapters coming in 2 packs only, that's £200 + switch + router, for something that might not be great anyway.

After reading a few other threads here and elsewhere, it looks like getting an Orbi AC3000 set might be a better bet, for not a whole lot more (depending on router cost ofc). Overkill on the WiFi front, but I'll be able to set the living room node up so it isn't around the corner (just down the hall), and everything with an ethernet port can wire in. It also has the added benefit that it will also be useful whenever I move somewhere that I can lay wires, but powerline will just become redundant (maybe WiFi technology will have moved on enough for the Orbi to be redundant anyway!)

So, does that sound sensible, or is there a better (value) option altogether?

Thanks in advance!
 
A decent mesh system will sort the router and wireless side of things.

You should be able to use the Ethernet connections on the mesh notes to connect wired devices (with additional switches if you need more ports).

You'd need a modem of some sort to connect the mesh router to the broadband. If it's a fibre connection the cheapest option is a secondhand Openreach modem.
 
Initial bleary eyed 6am thoughts....you can lay cable in a non destructive manner, if you don’t want to, then buy a cheap AV500/600 powerline kit (they change hands used for as little as £10), update the firmware on it and test it. If you get a decent result then you can add a switch and that takes care of the wired devices in the lounge and you can add an AP (old router running AP mode?) quite cheaply to sort the Wi-fi side.

Which Plusnet router? The old n based version sucked for Wi-Fi range and was best replaced with something nicer - I used an old TP Link at one point, better coverage and range/management options.
 
Thanks, that's a good point, I can always test how well a cheap powerline works before getting something faster (if I need to).

It's a Hub One, which I think is the latest one they do.
 
Hub One is basically a rebranded Home Hub, wifi is OK, but nothing special, features are limited - I ran a Unifi AP when work had one for improved coverage. Powerline wise stick to main sockets, not spur sockets if possible, also avoid surge suppression/extensions, anecdotal testing showed about 25% reduction in sync per extension socket, realistically on a product with a 100mbit port it's largely a moot point - your max WAN connection speed usually means you're going to be WAN limited, local streaming may be different - depends on what you're doing. Would I want to move 40TB over power line? No. A few RDP sessions, stream media from a central server and downloading is usually fine.
 
Thanks for your help and suggestions. In the end I picked up 2 mid-range TP-link powerline kits, one of them is also a WiFi AP. Everything running pretty smoothly now, I haven't done a proper speed test over the network but I can actually play games on the Steam Link now, so mission successful!
 
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