Upgrade for Tp Link Homeplug AV1200

Muso

Muso

Muso

Associate
Joined
15 Mar 2006
Posts
243
Hi all,

I've got 3 AV1200 home plugs setup as the moment and I've had these for a number of years and was wondering is it was worth upgrading and if so what to? I use the plugs as Wifi is no good for gaming. An issue I sometimes get with these plugs is they sometimes totally lose connectivity and I have to go in and reset them to get them working again, I was hoping there was a better solution as these were a big upgrade from my previous plugs.

Cheers,
 
Guess I left myself open to that for not being specific enough!

So I'm specifically asking about replacing my existing homeplug with a new homeplug, cheers!
 
Muso said:
Guess I left myself open to that for not being specific enough!

So I'm specifically asking about replacing my existing homeplug with a new homeplug, cheers!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately - as you discovered - home plugs are not a reliable method of networking devices. Your '1200' plugs are marketed using full duplex numbers, so they're 600Mbit theoretically at best. I did some testing a while back on 500Mbit kit, the numbers below are again going to be full duplex, so halve them, the same circuit numbers are plugged directly into the same double socket and the two extension numbers are the same extensions plugged into the same double socket on a property that had been recently rewired and tested, so represent about as good as it's going to get.

Two extensions, same circuit 168Mbps
One extension, same circuit 221Mbps
No extensions, same circuit 337Mbps

So under ideal circumstances (outside of a lab), an AV500 product managed 168.5Mbps, for what it'll cost to replace your existing set-up, a cable really is absolutely the best upgrade you can make in terms of reliability and bandwidth. Anything power line related is likely to suffer the same issues you have now as it's using the same cable between the units. You could try things like checking the firmware is current and you may get different results with a different power line standard (you have the choice of 3 currently from memory).
 
Thanks @Avalon

The speed isn't the issue, it's the stability. Sometimes the plugs will just lose their connection and then it's a battle to get it working again, it doesn't happen very often but when it does it's a real pain. I noticed a significant improvement when I upgraded the plugs a while back and I think apart from the speed the old technology was homeplug AV1 and the new ones are Homeplug AV2 that really increased stability. I was hoping there was a Homeplug AV3 or something similar out but there doesn't appear to be.

I agree a cable is obviously the best but routing a cable internally would be so messy, the office is on the 2nd floor and the router is on the ground floor. I suppose one option could be to look at running an external cable but I've never heard of anyone actually doing that before. Cheers
 
The issue is a newer power line kit may not even help with stability, the main thing causing it would be your home's internal wiring.

You say WiFi is no good for gaming, is it WiFi from the router itself? Is it too far? A decent router/access point/mesh and WiFi adapter on the PC may provide better stability than power lines, if a direct cable is not an option.
 
Muso said:
I suppose one option could be to look at running an external cable but I've never heard of anyone actually doing that before. Cheers
Click to expand...

It's a very common thing to do. I've done it at my place - drilled out behind the down pipe, cable tied the cable to the back of the pipe and then drilled back in.
 
Muso said:
I agree a cable is obviously the best but routing a cable internally would be so messy, the office is on the 2nd floor and the router is on the ground floor. I suppose one option could be to look at running an external cable but I've never heard of anyone actually doing that before. Cheers
Click to expand...

It's a regularly discussed/done here for exactly that reason, generally because when done well, you don't see it. As already mentioned above, drain pipes tend to be easy to hide cables behind, conduit or pinning direct to the surface can often be done along porches or in less visible corners or under decorative ledges, conduit is also an option.
 
If wherever your living is long-term it really makes no sense for you not to run a cable.
Only time I can really understand anyone's argument for using powerlines is when it's somewhere they're living somewhere temporarily.

You've only got to lay it once.
 
Do it right - costs less than £65* (less than you likely paid for your current Homeplugs - let alone faster ones!)

sKCEE1zl.png.jpg


Surface mount back boxes are easy to install - but obviously you can get flush mount ones to fit into the wall (or can be done later).
100m of External cable, enough to do 2 runs (which you may as well do, as not really any more hassle to do an extra run at the same time), 2 Cat5e modules for each end.

*Only thing missing from the above is some cable clips to pin the cable to the wall, and a long enough drill bit to get through the wall
 
Yea home plugs are crap.

I recently put in a full wired ethernet network in my home, yes it's a bit of research and work but now it's done it's soooooooooooo good.
 
BUDFORCE said:
Yea home plugs are crap.

I recently put in a full wired ethernet network in my home, yes it's a bit of research and work but now it's done it's soooooooooooo good.
Click to expand...
I think it depends on what you want to do with them. I have used them in the past to get a 'wired' connection to somewhere I struggled to get decent wifi to and couldn't cable (my choice, could have had the router beside it but then I lose out elsewhere). All it was doing was feeding a firestick and then a shield. Latency was crap but throughput was good enough to stream HD, and that's all I needed. I've since put ceiling mounted wifi in that room and passed the homeplugs on to the father in law, who is doing exactly the same job and it's working well enough.

Would I want to game or do productive work through them? No, but for the price they will absolutely do a job under the right circumstances.
 
My experience with powerline networks is that they aren't really any better than Wi-Fi. Assuming you want Wi-Fi coverage throughout your house then powerline becomes sort of redundant.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom