Powerline Kits

[rjk]

Got a desktop upstairs that has poor wireless signal, dropouts constantly etc.

looking at a powerline kit but dont know too much about the technology,

anyone got any thoughts or advice?

 

[GhostlyPea]

My mate has then and they work fine, just need to make sure you have good wiring in the house

- Pea0n

 

[rjk]

that was my main concern, £70+ is a fair chunk to spend on something that might not work

 

[GhostlyPea]

Well don't get me wrong, his speeds certainly aren't great BUT much much better than no wireless signal. It doesn't make much difference to him though as the speeds are faster than his Internet connection so he isn't being bottle necked by them and doesn't transfer inside the house.

Only problem he had was one set kept over heating so make sure they are reasonably ventilated

- Pea0n

 

[macster]

i've got an 85mbit kit and get about 20mbit throughput on the upstairs pc. only cost me £40 for the kit. 200mbit kit should show a marked improvement over this but its all down to how good the wiring in your home is.

 

[Dazza_Random]

I have never got faster than 15mb on some cheapish £30 85mb set

Tried in 3 houses

 

[manic_man]

200Mbit single units by TP-Link can be had for around £25.

Really it's a bit like WiFi, there are powerline standards such as there are WiFi standards. And then some manufacturers such as Belkin with their "HD" kit OCuk sell here (a very good price btw) who (I assume) provide the base standard and then over-ride it with their own as well.

As has been said, what you get will depend on your wiring quality and setup, however in a house, with a couple of 200Mbit powerline standard devices, i'f be surpised if you saw much less than 100mbit between them.

We have 4 TP-Link 201 series in our flat and 1 200Mbit Devolo device, they have all been given their own socket (quite important), one goes into the router (the devolo), one into the lounge, and one into each bedroom. There is a switch on the lounge and a PS3, Wii and laptop all go into it. The Devolo and TP-Link all play nicely together as they all meet standard powerline specs. From my research the only ones to avoid are some older Netgear ones as Netgear rushed things and ignored standards to be first to market.

So we really are taxing the technology, but (bar some frankly shonky setup software from TP-Link), they were all setup in 5 minutes and while i'm sure the network is collision heaven, if I look from my PC, the software connects locally to my device, which then finds the other adaptors and estimates a throughput, the lowest is to the lounge, which is the furthest away from me, and is estimated at 80-100. The rest range from 150 to 200.

Pings are great across the network and really you couldn't tell it apart from a standard ethernet setup tbh.

I'm very impressed by the technology!

 

[ElectroBlaster]

Ok lets just say powerline adaptors are quite simply brilliant! I bought a second hand pair from the mm and it really was plug-n-play. They just work and they work all the time unlike wireless which just never worked for us. The connection is consistant and quite fast for our needs.

 

[errata]

thought no 1

it will take you 5 minutes to find out if they work for you, 4 minutes of which is unpacking them

thought 2

they work in most homes with normal wiring but avoid plugging them into surge protectors

thought 3

buy 2 the same and be clear which technology they use as powerline is often applied to different plug technologies (I tend to look for homeplug 2 compatibles as they are now genereic)

 

[bloodhunter]

I was told that they will only work on the same ringmain so it depends on the electrical network your home has. Ours is a bit gaga as the house is quite old.

 

[Duke]

Depends on what speed the desktop needs. If its just browsing the net etc then a cheap one will do (I picked up e-tailor branded pair of powerline adapters for £30-40 which worked fine for this). If you are streaming or gaming, then you will need the more expensive models.

 

[bigredshark]

They can be good but I've had problems getting a set to work for my parents (which is interesting as they've just had the place completely gutted and extended so the wiring is new). Usually if they work out of the box then they'll be flawless for years, if you have problems setting up then you'll likely always have problems of some kind. Not a solid rule but 90% true in my experience.

I'd say the DSR (distance selling regulations) are your friend here...

 

[errata]

I was told that they will only work on the same ringmain so it depends on the electrical network your home has. Ours is a bit gaga as the house is quite old.

Not correct!

Same ring main should be better speed but to work the main requirements is that all the wiring goes back to a common fuse panel.

 

[Beerbaron]

I use the Linksys ones that were sold by OcUk. Ive used them for well over a year with no problems

 

[Camoe]

would work fine. but i would just put some copper in, would save you a lot of money.