Homeplugs

Topbike77

Hi, I was in maplin today looking for homeplugs and the people in there told me to avoid tp-link like the plage. Although the product on amazon has four and a half star reviews. They told me devolo is a much better brand, does anyone know anything about the two brands?

ElNino

I have never heard of devolo but I have 3 TP-Link ones that I bought off Amazon that work perfectly without a problem.

Topbike77

Yeah im unsure why they encourage Devolo so much against the tp-link products. I feel like they are getting commission or something for selling them.

heroics

I also have 2 TP Link AV500 homeplugs and am using them for the xbox and they work great and have not had any issues. Checked the latency with the laptop and ping times to the router are <1ms

Topbike77

Would homeplugs differ in performance compared to an ethernet cable? Im trying to figure out which would be best option, the router is downstairs and pc/xbox upstairs. An ethernet cable would be messy and homeplugs would be allot easier.

Alun

Ronan14 wrote: »

Yeah im unsure why they encourage Devolo so much against the tp-link products. I feel like they are getting commission or something for selling them.

They do very well in many of the tests actually. If I was in the market for them they'd be one of my top choices. Another "unheard of" company, Solwise, in the UK, have a good reputation too.

I have a TP-Link router and while it's OK, I have one or two issues with it functionality-wise and their support is virtually non-existant. Devolo are German and my experiences with other German tech companies has been very good.

ElNino

Ronan14 wrote: »

Would homeplugs differ in performance compared to an ethernet cable? Im trying to figure out which would be best option, the router is downstairs and pc/xbox upstairs. An ethernet cable would be messy and homeplugs would be allot easier.

Ethernet would obviously be preferable but the degradation in performance with using homeplugs is pretty small and would be my preferred solution.

Topbike77

If I was to get the ones that double as wifi boosters would the speed drop when a device eg. My phone connects to it?

RangeR

Ronan14 wrote: »

If I was to the ones that double as wifi boosters would the speed drop when a device eg. My phone connects to it?

WIFI boosters slow down your wifi speed which is the price to be paid for extending the network.

Think of homeplugs [ANY brand] as network hubs. Standard ethernet cabling would be akin network switches. Even bog standard eircom routers come with a 4 port switch built in.

Hubs are bad for everything other than IP troubleshooting. Hubs get exponentially slower, the more devices you have connected.

ED E

Ranger is correct, but its worth noting that a typical homeplug will do 70-90Mbps, your phone is unlikey to pull 30Mb most of the time so the impact wouldnt be that severe.

Topbike77

Thanks for all the advice lads! Whats the difference between the Tp-Link TL-PA4010KIT & TL-PA411KIT?

RangeR

Ronan14 wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice lads! Whats the difference between the Tp-Link TL-PA4010KIT & TL-PA411KIT?

Just over a tenner

Topbike77

RangeR wrote: »

Just over a tenner

Which one is the newer model? Im finding it hard to tell

Chris The Hacker

Compare them there yourself.

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=TL-PA411KIT#over

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=TL-PA4010KIT#over

I don't see much of a difference.

Topbike77

The reason im asking is because I bought the TL-PA4010KIT a while ago in argos and got practically the same speeds as I would hardwired 30ping 65 down 17 up. But I noticed pc world has the TL-PA411KIT for a tenner cheaper so I brought them back and went for those & now for whatever reason now im getting the same ping and upload but 3mb down. Its strange that my upload is fine but my download is ridiculous.

Topbike77

I've been pulling my hair out all day to try find the problem and at one brief point I got the full 65mb I should be getting, but it then went back down to 3mb. I think it may have something to do with electrical noise. I switched off everything in my house and it went from 3 to 20. Anyone know how I can fix this?

Skill Magill

Try different sockets?

crawler

Ronan14 wrote: »

I've been pulling my hair out all day to try find the problem and at one brief point I got the full 65mb I should be getting, but it then went back down to 3mb. I think it may have something to do with electrical noise. I switched off everything in my house and it went from 3 to 20. Anyone know how I can fix this?

Make sure youre not using extension leads of multi plugs.....plug directly ot the socket

cunnijo

Ronan14 wrote: »

I've been pulling my hair out all day to try find the problem and at one brief point I got the full 65mb I should be getting, but it then went back down to 3mb. I think it may have something to do with electrical noise. I switched off everything in my house and it went from 3 to 20. Anyone know how I can fix this?

I get the distinct impression that it's the adapters is the issue and not the power. You mentioned that the ones you had bought from Argos gave you the speeds you were expecting (should have kept them) and that these ones from PC World only give you 3mb down. I would suggest you bring them back to PC World for replacement or refund as they could be potentially faulty.

I bought the TP-Link AV-500 Gigabit Powerline Adapter kit (TL-PA511 kit) from Dabs.ie for €54.24 + delivery

http://www.dabs.ie/products/tp-link-av500-gigabit-powerline-adapter-kit-7V4C.html?fb=43&src=3

Overall I find these do exactly what they say. I have a 30mb connection and I get virtually the full speeds with them and low pings to boot (15-20). I would recommend them. As Crawler mentions they only work at full capacity when plugged into the socket not power leads.

RangeR

You may also have to update the firmware. My Devolo's, I've had them about 5 years. They were very patchy. About 6 months ago, I found out that you could upgrade the firmware on them. Never a drop since. Check it.

ainiseoir

Ronan14 wrote: »

Hi, I was in maplin today looking for homeplugs and the people in there told me to avoid tp-link like the plage. Although the product on amazon has four and a half star reviews. They told me devolo is a much better brand, does anyone know anything about the two brands?

have 4 Devolos in situ.
I use the Plus ones with Ethernet connections, they work very well.
My computer is quite a distance from the main telco jack with some old-fashioned concrete walls to contend with.
Doubled the speed I was able to get from the new eircom modem/router.
in fact I have turned off the wireless on their modem.
I have my own Airport network.
I rather like the Plus type where you plug the Devolo directly into the wall socket and then plug in everything else into it.
They seem rather expensive in Euro terms, especially the one with 3 Ethernet ports and a Wireless facility.
How many wireless networks does anyone need!
I got them on a recommendation and I have not been disappointed.
The next test will be , if ever, I've been waiting since October, will be when the chap with the eVision box appears!
Good luck

bonoman66

Just to add (although I appreciate your probably all sorted at this stage)..

I've had TP Link as brand (TLPA251Kit) & found they worked in my house but I wasn't satisfied with the overall speeds I could achieve with them.

I knew that house wiring & which sockets they were plugged into could make a difference & did see some positive variances depending on where I had them plugged in etc..

I did some reading on tech forums & came across a brand I hadn't heard of but decided I'd give them a try.

I got these

http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-500av-piggy.htm

I found a huge positive difference in performance (much better) compared to the TP-Link devices - in the exact same sockets in my house.

Just my '2 cents' in case it helps with another brand's feedback..

Topbike77

Thanks for all the help lads really appreciate it. I updated the firmware last night but it didn't make a difference at the time.
I don't know what happened as I didn't change anything but its been at a consistent 61mb since I woke up at 7:30 this morning. Hopefully it stays like that. If for some reason it does drop I might try out the Devolos or Solwise ones.

RangeR

Ronan14 wrote: »

Thanks for all the help lads really appreciate it. I updated the firmware last night but it didn't make a difference at the time.
I don't know what happened as I didn't change anything but its been at a consistent 61mb since I woke up at 7:30 this morning. Hopefully it stays like that. If for some reason it does drop I might try out the Devolos or Solwise ones.

If I dare ask... why the desire to gain higher speed? Do you have a specific application in mind? You will never come close to the theoretical maximum speed.

Topbike77

RangeR wrote: »

If I dare ask... why the desire to gain higher speed? Do you have a specific application in mind? You will never come close to the theoretical maximum speed.

Im happy with 61mb What I was saying was, if for some reason it goes back down close to 3mb ill try a different more reputable brand.

RangeR

Yup, but there could be environmental issues bringing it down to 3Mb. How many homeplugs do you have plugged in? Any more than 2 or 3 and you will see a speed decrease.

Topbike77

RangeR wrote: »

Yup, but there could be environmental issues bringing it down to 3Mb. How many homeplugs do you have plugged in? Any more than 2 or 3 and you will see a speed decrease.

Environmental issues? It was raining & pretty stormy yesterday.. I didn't even consider that to be a factor. I have two.

RangeR

Ronan14 wrote: »

Environmental issues? It was raining & pretty stormy yesterday.. I didn't even consider that to be a factor. I have two.

I'm not an electrical expert by any means but anything that could bring noise on the line. A "leaky" device, possibly a heavy draw appliance, using an extension lead [don't]. Even someone else using a home plug close by you. I believe this is possible that neighbours, maybe every three doors, are on the same leccy frequency as you and can interfere.

Basically, Homeplugs are a mid point between full on ethernet and full on WIFI. WIFI can be awful for environmental noise. Ethernet is exceptionally resilient, once you aren't running the cable parallel to heavy leccy wires. Homeplugs don't have a point to point. How could they. Their signal has to travel along every wire in the house until it reaches the other homeplug, and then travel some more, etc. It's a very noise medium.

79PTB

Hi guys,


I am trying to find out if I can use home plugs instead of a cat-5 cable before it connects to the router. I spoke to Eircom technical support and they are not sure, as they do not know of anyone who did it before.

scenario: Technician from Eircom said we need to instal cat-5. Cat-5 connects to the box that splits into telephone line and the router.

Can I replace cat-5 with a hpme plugs, has any one tried? I am interested in your opinions.


thanks

ED E

Totally impossible. Homeplugs carry Ethernet frames, that line is an ADSL(or VDSL signal). You have to have a modem to terminate the line.

Put the modem at the master socket, then use homeplugs to go wherever you need to go.

79PTB

ED E wrote: »

Totally impossible. Homeplugs carry Ethernet frames, that line is an ADSL(or VDSL signal). You have to have a modem to terminate the line.

Put the modem at the master socket, then use homeplugs to go wherever you need to go.

Thanks!