Question about powerline network adapters

RaMDOM

RaMDOM

RaMDOM

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I am having to move my PC to a different room in the house and do not have a BT socket in that room to get the internet in there. I do not want to go wireless as it seems to be a but flaky in my house so I was looking these powerline adapters as a solution and keeping the router/modem in the room it is now. An IT guy at my work uses them and has said they are really good.

I see that there are generally 2 varieties: 85mbps or 200mbps. As far as I can tell all I would need is the 85mbps ones as my internet connection is 8mbps. I know it sounds like a noob question but surely my internet speed should not suffer with these.

Am I right in my thinking? The ones I am looking at summized it for the public as the 85 variety for surfing and file sharing and the 200 variety for this plus streaming media. As my router and switch are 100mbps then surely you do not need 200 to stream, shoudl not 85 be good enough for this?

Cheers in advance.
 
There is also the Belkin 1000mbps Version which I have, althought unlikely to ever attain that speed in the real world I can vouch that they are pritty darn good also!

In reply to your query, if all you are doing is surfing the web go with the 85mb. Streaming depends on what you are streaming, if its just MP3s the 85 will be OK. Personally I would go with at least 200mb version, if you want HD stuff 200>1000 version would be better. Im not even sure if the 200mb version would even handle HD.

At the end if the day its all down to your house wiring. I have mine down/upstairs at opposite ends of the house and I get a great connection. But that might just be my luck.

Cheers.
 
Firstly the speeds quoted aren't full duplex, so basically they have a max of 100mbit each way (hence why most are fitted with 100Mbit ports).

All the tests I've seen for the Belkin ones suggest they're a waste of money and only marginally better than the HomePlugAV 200mbit rated ones and that is only if you have decent wiring.

Personally I think they're a fairly good solution just don't expect to see anything remotely close to the headline speeds, though I gave up on mine ages ago and just ran cables to where I needed them, PoE and GigE speeds were far more useful to me :)
 
wij said:
All the tests I've seen for the Belkin ones suggest they're a waste of money and only marginally better than the HomePlugAV 200mbit rated ones and that is only if you have decent wiring.
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I would agree with you on this, they are as good as your going to get but no where near advertised. (1000mb) Fortunatly I did my research before buying and new this, just thought I would give them a go anyway as they were on offer for same price as 200mb versions. If you accept they are not as advertised they are infact very good. Never let me down so far and very easy setup!

Cheers.
 
I just upgraded to belkin gigabit ones I am very pleased.

They perform over 3x than 200mbps adaptors over a fair range. (previously had netgear then develo's). Strangely they didn't get good reviews and whilst true don't get anywhere near gigabit speeds, they are fast, work over a good range and over separate ring's.

Maybe the reviews were made using older firmware, but for me they perform very well.
 
Go for a 200mbit product, i can vouch for the devolo kit (they do a nice starter kit) are really good. I had netgear before and they either didnt agree with the wiring in the house or where bad however the devolo's have no issues running on extention cords on the odd occasion when i need a proper plug however do loose some speed due to the extention cord
 
Cheers for the response guys. In reality I am not going to be doing much to any streaming. I really am only worried about internet gaming connectivity through them. Therefore I figured my BB speed is 8mbps and so 85 mbps would be fine.

I am not looking to transfer anything from the PC connected to anything else in the house, at speed anyway. I am really only looking at them as a way of connecting to my modem router from another room instead of having to pay for a new BT socket to be fitted in the room.
 
I have a pair of Solwise 200Mbps devices. Very stable - transfer speeds could be better but fast enough in an old flat in a converted victorian house to stream HD
 
the devolos stream 1080p no probs with tonnes of spare. If you worried about gaming, i use one for my ps3 and i have a smooth connection (sometimes not in MW2 but i blame the game) but others are fine, i have seen though it might add another 1-2ms on your pingtime.
 
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