High-speed Home Network Options

Genghiz Cohen

So we have UPC 150Mb internets and a big ugly orange LAN cable running up the stairs to my desktop.

What kind of wireless router would be recommended (if you would even recommend one) and what wireless card? Or some of those fancy Powerline deallys to clean up the cable if I can't find a neat way to route it.

srsly78

If you don't need another wireless router then don't bother getting one. Make sure the upc one is set to wifi N, and all your clients are compatible. That will give you plenty of speed. If you have legacy wifi G devices dragging the network down to slow speed then maybe setup a second router just for those.

Yes the power line adapters will solve your cable on stairs problem.

BloodBath

These should do the trick.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-PA211KIT-200Mbps-Powerline-Adapter/dp/B004INVKP4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367926747&sr=8-1&keywords=homeplug

The 500mb ones are only a little more.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0084Y9N3O/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers

Aren't the new upc routers that come with those fast connections the newer fast wireless ones?

indough

i would go with this model instead

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-PA511KIT-Gigabit-Powerline-Adapter/dp/B005FVOKM8/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1367926875&sr=1-1&keywords=TL-PA511

has a gigabit port over the other one and better speeds which upc may take advantage of soon enough, they are constantly upgrading their speeds

better still are the models with a passthrough, but that ups the price considerably again

Serephucus

I'd go with the big ugly LAN cable, myself. If you know anyone with decent DIY skills you could get them to route it through the wall/ceiling for you so you don't have to see it.

//When I build a house, I'm getting it wired with CAT6 from the start. :P

Genghiz Cohen

Serephucus wrote: »

I'd go with the big ugly LAN cable, myself. If you know anyone with decent DIY skills you could get them to route it through the wall/ceiling for you so you don't have to see it.

//When I build a house, I'm getting it wired with CAT6 from the start. :P

It is not up to me really.
The other demands and I would be a fool to refuse.

Powerline is not fast enough to max your 150Mbps connection if that's what you're looking for. Maybe Homeplug AV2 MIMO in about 2014/2015 will manage it.

802.11ac will probably do 150Mbps depending on distance, but the routers and adapters are currently extremely expensive.

srsly78

Not correct. The newer power line adapters that are rated at 500Mbps maximum often give real-world performance of 200Mbps+. This is enough to max the upc connection. Depends on the quality of the houses wires and presence of interference etc.

The powerline adapters were pretty bad a few years ago, but the newer ones are much improved.

belcampprisoner

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_sabc?url=search-alias%3Daps&pageMinusResults=1&suo=1367950559134#/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/275-1332725-6755768?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=power%20internet&sprefix=power+int%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Apower%20internet

srsly78

srsly78 wrote: »

Not correct. The newer power line adapters that are rated at 500Mbps maximum often give real-world performance of 200Mbps+. This is enough to max the upc connection. Depends on the quality of the houses wires and presence of interference etc.

The powerline adapters were pretty bad a few years ago, but the newer ones are much improved.

Nope.

Powerline are half-duplex, the theoretical maximum throughput of gigabit-interface 500Mbps units is 250Mbps. And that is theoretical in the sense of a perfect lab test scenario with zero interference, signal loss etc.

In the real world where you do have interference and signal loss, you might achieve 100Mbps if the two adapters are in the same room. Otherwise sustained throughput of 60-80Mbps around the house is about as good as you can expect.

Serephucus

Deleted User wrote: »

In the real world where you do have interference and signal loss, you might achieve 100Mbps if the two adapters are in the same room. Otherwise sustained throughput of 60-80Mbps around the house is about as good as you can expect.

My reading of many reviews of various different powerline adapters supports this as well.

Luck100

I have UPC 100 mbit service + a separate wifi N router. I get pretty close to the full 100 mbit over the wifi link (and it seems to be the same as I get with an ethernet cable straight into the UPC cable modem). Router is on ground floor, computer is on floor above.

The wifi function in the UPC box is N class, but it seems pretty poor. I had terrible performance on bitTorrent with it, so I turned off the built-in wifi and added the external router. My external router is a really cheap, so probably any reasonable N router will work. Just don't get the combined modem/router boxes.

Cuddlesworth

Deleted User wrote: »

802.11ac will probably do 150Mbps depending on distance, but the routers and adapters are currently extremely expensive.

Routers are not that expensive. Its the adapters really.

But yeah, wired is the best for those speeds.

Cuddlesworth

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Routers are not that expensive. Its the adapters really.

But yeah, wired is the best for those speeds.

That's not an AC router (although it is a very good 802.11n one).

The RT-AC66U is closer to €200 most places ive seen. And good 3x3 adapters are close to €100.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-PCE-AC66-1300Mbps-Wireless-Interface/dp/B00BB3D8Y0/

802.11ac is similar to previous wifi standards in the sense that if you half-ass it, you don't get anywhere near the achieveable speeds. There are going to be a lot of cheap 1T1R routers hitting the market this year, (and cheap adapters), but it kind of defeats the purpose.