Powerline improvement

PureAlpha

PureAlpha

PureAlpha

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22 Jun 2009
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43
I've been using a Linksys WMP-54G wireless PCI with a Netgear DG834GT 108Mbps router. The router can't really be moved and is on the other side of the house.

At the moment I have Sky's basic 2Mb/s package and the download throughput on a PC wired by CAT-5 to the router is c. 1.7-8Mb/s (using Speedtest). However, using WLAN to my new rig I only receive c. 0.4-0.6Mb/s and often suffer disconnections. I have tried to improve performance by changing channels, ensuring microfilters are installed and altering aerial position (as well as other measures) but to no avail.

I've only become aware of the existence of Powerline / HomePlug this week and have been researching it keenly! I intend to upgrade to o2's 20Mb package in the next month and was wondering whether it is likely that buying an 'up to 200Mbps' Powerline kit is likely to allow me to achieve good speeds. Of course internal wiring and other factors are the main determinants, but could someone give me an opinion on whether this would be a good option in light of the failing wireless network? If it is possible in any way to give a 'ballpark' estimate of percentage throughput compared to a wired ethernet at source modem I would be most grateful.

If the consensus is that I could only realise half the potential of the primary connection then I will consider having the router moved and a long ethernet cable installed, but I would seek to avoid this at all costs.

Many thanks!
 
I purchased a 80Mbps powerline kit for the same reasons, my wireless was simply not stable enough and gave high latency when gaming. Like you my router is located far from the computer, infact as furthest as it could be in a fairly large house.

I'm getting 99% speed as I do with a computer plugged a meter away from the router. I can assure you that you'll receive very good speeds, I'd say you get pretty much get 99% speed even with the 80Mbps and not 200Mbps. This is assuming your house is using a Ring electrical circuit.

Remember connecting the adapter to extension leads/surgeprotectors is said to reduce the strength, but that said I have mines connected to an extension which is also connected to a surgeprotector... still getting top speeds.

I've been through 5 different routers, the last being a Netgear DGN2000 and this powerline kit has by far been my best investment in terms of networking.
 
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I have a set of the powerline adapters. (I think they are 80Mbps. They can free with my BT Vision box) I tried them out and the results were terrible. I mean completely unusable. Terrible speeds, not at all reliable. I gave up and put them back in their box. I'm using a wireless router now and it has its problems too.

The trouble is, the powerline things depend on your home. I live in a 15 year old flat and alas I had no luck, but I think I just unlucky. Ironically, I thinking of getting a DGN2000 :)
 
Used the 200mbps netgear powerline all the way through Uni when our decent netgear router just couldnt give me decent wireless speeds. We had a 16Mb Bulldog LLU connection and I could get full speed through my powerline adapters (not plugged into extensions though).

They are fantastic. Now using them at home to stream HD content from my PC to my PS3.

NB. You can be unlucky on your power wiring if you have different loops it can be knocked out. But I'm sure you could get a refund if it doesnt work at all..
 
Thanks a lot for the replies, guys.

I think I'm going to give it a shot as the potential of 99% throughput is too tempting! As you say, if it doesn't work out I might be able to get my money back.
 
EDIT: The house was built in the early 1920's I think, but I suppose nothing can be assumed about the age of the existing wiring. Unfortunately I don't know what the set-up is here in terms of rings etc.

(Misprocessed edit :o)
 
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I have been using the eConnect Homeplug Turbos for 2 years now and up to 8 people (one from Canada) connect directly to my IL2 game server without any packet loss. The only comment I have is as follows:

I had my router (DG834GT flashed with DGTeam software) downstairs in my kitchen connected with a short wire to my BT filtered faceplate and used eConnect Turbos to get the signal upstairs to my gaming machine. After several months I rewired slightly (wire through the loft) and had the router upstairs next to the PC and did not use the eConnect Turbos. The difference is marginal. I now find I get 17mb downoad when directly connected to the router against 16mb when using the HomePlug Turbos.

I have been helping people locally, and have carried out a test in an old Farm House and their BT Router using Wifi was non existant in some rooms. As soon as they tried my HomePlugs, they worked flawlessly.

I would suggest trying 2 and if they dont do what they say they should on the tin for you, return them under the distance selling regulations etc. I am sure you will find them ok.
 
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Update:

Have just received and installed my 200Mbps Powerline adapters.

Speedtest results carried out subsequently (still on Sky 'base' 2Mbit package):

Wireless G network - dl 0.9Mb/s | ul 0.35Mb/s

Powerline - dl 2.75Mb/s | ul 0.35Mb/s

Very pleased with the improvement. Can't wait for the upgrade to 20Mbit with o2 to be activated.

Thanks for the guidance!
 
PureAlpha said:
Update:

Have just received and installed my 200Mbps Powerline adapters.

Speedtest results carried out subsequently (still on Sky 'base' 2Mbit package):

Wireless G network - dl 0.9Mb/s | ul 0.35Mb/s

Powerline - dl 2.75Mb/s | ul 0.35Mb/s

Very pleased with the improvement. Can't wait for the upgrade to 20Mbit with o2 to be activated.

Thanks for the guidance!
Click to expand...

Wow that's awesome! I'm getting some 85mbps ones through on Monday, having seen that I can't wait! Currently getting a measly 0.7mb/s on Speedtest!
 
Well, just because everybody was raving about the powerline adapters, I wanted to have a moan about them, and say how, just like wireless, your mileage may vary.

I wanted to upgrade from wireless G, to something faster and I thought I would buy a pair of the Belkin Powerline AV adpters (rated at 200Mbps) from a shop so I could take them back when they don't work at all well just like the ones I had previously.

They rocked!

They are fast, very reliable and couldn't be easier to setup! I'm getting about 5.5MB/s transfers as well, much better than the flakey 1.6MB/s I was getting with wireless. Playing games online is fine with them. No issues at all so far! The only issue is they are rather pricey.

What sort of speeds do others get?
 
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Previously I used them (adaptors) to transfer the data from the router (next to the BT master socket) to my PC upstairs and I got around 16meg download. I then rewired so the wire comes directly from the faceplate (no adaptors used) to the router and I get around 17meg download.
 
Caustic said:
What sort of speeds do others get?
Click to expand...

I don't know about actual xfer speeds. But I know my netgear 200mbps ones formed a network with 80-90mbps connections. The speed didnt worry me too much, it was the stability compared to my constantly dropping and failing wireless.
 
gord said:
I don't know about actual xfer speeds. But I know my netgear 200mbps ones formed a network with 80-90mbps connections. The speed didnt worry me too much, it was the stability compared to my constantly dropping and failing wireless.
Click to expand...

Same with me, I must be connected around that speed to get the transfer rates I do. But as you said, it is the reliability thats the key, and so far, thats been awesome!
 
Caustic said:
GunRunner: You get 16MB/s? As in MegaBytes?
Click to expand...


I am talking download speeds as quoted by Internet Service Providers. In fact my connection speed from my router is currently showing 20036 kbps. My talktalk stats on my Netgear DG834G currently show:

Download:17286 KBits/s (2160.75 KBytes/s).

So with the Powerline adaptors in my system:

Download: 16000 Kbits/s. So the difference (loss) is 1286 KBits/s with the Powerline adaptors in the system. I think that is quite good! What do you think?

Note. I am seriously thinking of purchasing a QNAPS TS239 see here..

http://www.qnap-store.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=193

This would be the ultimate test if I were to stream video through the plugs from the TS239 through a Netgear EVA8000.

See here..

http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia/review/2007/05/17/Netgear-Digital-Entertainer-HD-EVA8000/p1

It appears the latest firmware upgrades have ironed out the bugs.

By the way, I have the earlier Powerline adaptors by eConnect that are the 85 meg ones and I was advised on another forum (sorry lost the link but it was on the Draytek forum) that if they were used in a system for just home use and broadband then anything more would be overkill. If we are talking about streaming video from a server, then it might be another matter, but also I read that powerline adaptors (85meg) are sufficient for streaming mpeg4. Not my opinion you understand, just what I have read from a reliable source.

By the way, we are neighbours. I live between Witney and Oxford.
 
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Ouch thats fast! Over 3x what I get, but at least mine is stable (so far). I can't really ask for anything more.

Ah good, someone in my neck of the woods.
 
Caustic said:
Ouch thats fast! Over 3x what I get, but at least mine is stable (so far). I can't really ask for anything more.

Ah good, someone in my neck of the woods.
Click to expand...

I never had a stability issue, even with the wife cooking away and the washing machine running I used to logon to the IL2 server in the Data Centre in New York with a fairly constant ping of 130 ms. I then changed my profile with talktalk to 24FSNR6 and had a ping of around 105ms.

By the way are you in Oxford or nearby?
 
Caustic said:
Same with me, I must be connected around that speed to get the transfer rates I do. But as you said, it is the reliability thats the key, and so far, thats been awesome!
Click to expand...
Well they easily cover any of the standard net connections including LLU.. which we had at uni.

And just for consistency, I'm up the road from Oxford at Banbury.
 
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