Powerline testing

Coojeekitten · 21 May 2020 at 19:16

I have a couple Netgear Powerline units which I've previously used for Netflix.

I'd like to put a Backup NAS in my garage which is about 50m from my house. The only viable connection is via my powerline units.

I have connected a mini pc in the garage & can connect to it via my Logmein software from my Home office pc.

Before blowing a fair amount on a NAS, is there a way that I can test the connection for reliability & speed?

StevieP · 21 May 2020 at 19:31

Is there any reason you want a NAS so far from the house? (50m seems like a loooong way away!)

Is the power in the garage even on the same ring as the house?

Regards speed I imagine you could use any speed test software but reliability is going to be difficult to gauge!

bremen1874 · 21 May 2020 at 20:45

It's hardly worth bothering because be performance is virtually guaranteed to be terrible.

If I was testing I'd use iPerf.

Worth checking if there's a software utility for the adapters as well. It should show what speed they're syncing at. Divide the sync speed by three to get a rough estimate of the available throughput.

BigT · 21 May 2020 at 21:14

Coojeekitten said:
I'd like to put a Backup NAS in my garage which is about 50m from my house. The only viable connection is via my powerline units.

Really? Could you not use something like Microtik’s wireless wire? You’ll get 1Gbps all day long without laying any more cables and much better results than powerline.

Coojeekitten · 22 May 2020 at 07:17

StevieP said:
Is there any reason you want a NAS so far from the house? (50m seems like a loooong way away!)

Is the power in the garage even on the same ring as the house?

Regards speed I imagine you could use any speed test software but reliability is going to be difficult to gauge!

It's our only building which is separate from the house, therefore a reasonable "off-site" location.

I think the garage is on a separate feed from the main consumer box. So not on the same ring.

BigT said:
Really? Could you not use something like Microtik’s wireless wire? You’ll get 1Gbps all day long without laying any more cables and much better results than powerline.

Looks interesting, however it would need cabling. The garage is on the opposite side of the house from the office, so I would have to cable to the "home" unit as they need line of sight. I could use Powerline to cable, but then that spoils the point.

bremen1874 said:
It's hardly worth bothering because be performance is virtually guaranteed to be terrible.

If I was testing I'd use iPerf.

Worth checking if there's a software utility for the adapters as well. It should show what speed they're syncing at. Divide the sync speed by three to get a rough estimate of the available throughput.

Is there anything easier to use than iPerf? Maybe a nice comfy GUI on top? :/

Mcnumpty2323 · 22 May 2020 at 08:11

Am I missing the point of this?
What's the difference /advantage of having it 50m away over having it in the office?
Still on same network so not sure how it would be off site?
If I am missing something obvious just slap me lol

the-evaluator · 22 May 2020 at 08:36

Coojeekitten said:
Is there anything easier to use than iPerf? Maybe a nice comfy GUI on top? :/

iPerf is easy enough to use. Download iperf3 onto a machine at each end of the Powerline link. On one of them, open a command prompt, cd to where iperf3.exe is and run 'iperf3.exe -s' which will put that instance into server mode.

On the other end run 'iperf3 -c 192.168.1.2 -P 10 -t 60' which will tell iperf to connect to the client on 192.168.1.2 (replace this with the IP address of the machine running the server), run 10 parallel steams (it gives a more accurate result than running a single stream) and run the test for 60 seconds. After 60 seconds you'll get your answer.

Swap roles so what was the client is now the server. Run the test again.

Traffic goes from client to server, so you're testing the upload from the client.

Coojeekitten · 22 May 2020 at 08:40

Yup thanks, I've been thinking about this, things were getting complex & stupid. The NAS in another building is protection against fire & partial protection from theft. But you are correct, on the same mains network, means a lightning strike & it all gets frizzled, probably also a virus risk too.

So, here's where I'm going with it. Choose a NAS to put in the office instead. Then buy a larger capacity USB backup, backup to that once a week & put the USB drive in the garage.

So now I need to check a NAS for noise levels.

WJA96 · 22 May 2020 at 08:40

Mcnumpty2323 said:
Am I missing the point of this?
What's the difference /advantage of having it 50m away over having it in the office?
Still on same network so not sure how it would be off site?
If I am missing something obvious just slap me lol

No, you’ve got it right. It’s a less than optimal solution implemented in a less than optimal way with a user that just screams “I don’t want help unless it’s iPhone easy” and you just want to step away smartly from the wave of disappointment that will roll in imminently. Sad. Because for very little money and effort the OP could have a great solution. Or, the cloud is off-site too.

Mcnumpty2323 · 22 May 2020 at 11:38

Coojeekitten said:
Yup thanks, I've been thinking about this, things were getting complex & stupid. The NAS in another building is protection against fire & partial protection from theft. But you are correct, on the same mains network, means a lightning strike & it all gets frizzled, probably also a virus risk too.

So, here's where I'm going with it. Choose a NAS to put in the office instead. Then buy a larger capacity USB backup, backup to that once a week & put the USB drive in the garage.

So now I need to check a NAS for noise levels.

Sounds like a better/simpler solution
And wasn't being hypercritical of you or anything
Just seemed a more complex solution than was required for your needs is all
The fact you will have multiple backups of your data is the main thing and that the USB can be isolated except when making backups is ideal

BigT · 22 May 2020 at 13:18

Coojeekitten said:
Yup thanks, I've been thinking about this, things were getting complex & stupid. The NAS in another building is protection against fire & partial protection from theft. But you are correct, on the same mains network, means a lightning strike & it all gets frizzled, probably also a virus risk too.

So, here's where I'm going with it. Choose a NAS to put in the office instead. Then buy a larger capacity USB backup, backup to that once a week & put the USB drive in the garage.

So now I need to check a NAS for noise levels.

It's a pleasure to see someone reflect and think objectively about the solution. I think you've settled on something sensible. Get the right NAS and you could add cloud backup into your workflow as well for added resilience.

Re noise levels, my home built UnRaid server sits in a case that is large (Fractal Define R7XL) but near silent, running 28TB raw capacity with 24TB usable. 4-6TB of that data is 'critical' to me and so gets put onto a USB drive once a month and put in the safe. The NAS also runs an hourly scheduled Rclone job to sync that crucial data to an encrypted Google drive (took a month to get the initial data load up there though!)

I'm sure you'll find something quiet and fit for your purpose without too much difficulty.