Powerline Adapters - which is best?

Dinarius

Not sure if this is the right forum...hope so.

I'm tired of wi-fi dropouts and I'm considering a wifi extender.

Which one of these would you guys recommend?

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&searchTerms=wireless+powerline&authToken=

Thanks.

D.

crawler

Dinarius wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right forum...hope so.

I'm tired of wi-fi dropouts and I'm considering a wifi extender.

Which one of these would you guys recommend?

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&searchTerms=wireless+powerline&authToken=

Thanks.

D.

Devolo make the best PLA in the world and are market leaders.

TP link are ok and netgear ok too.

bodonnell

I use tp-link, easy to set up etc. Don't know how they compare to other brands though but they seem to do what it says on the tin

heroics

I use TP-Link AV500 500 Mbps Powerline Homeplug for the xbox and have never had a problem with them. Using them for about 6 months now. Haven't tried any others so cant compare

beauf

They often come up cheaper on amazon.

long_b

I use TP Link - they're great

Dinarius

heroics wrote: »

I use TP-Link AV500 500 Mbps Powerline Homeplug for the xbox and have never had a problem with them. Using them for about 6 months now. Haven't tried any others so cant compare

Thanks for the reply.

Are any of the TP-Link Powerlines in the Argos link above the AV500?

Thanks again.

D.

heroics

Dinarius wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

Are any of the TP-Link Powerlines in the Argos link above the AV500?

Thanks again.

D.

These are the ones I have

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/1397640/Trail/searchtext%3EWIRELESS+POWERLINE.htm

beauf

You might want to check which ones support gigabit ethernet as most of them don't. You night get a bit better performance then the regular ones. Though the main limitation is your electrical wiring. Though if you want true gigabit ethernet you'd be better running a cable.

selfbuilder1

My vote goes to TP-Link. I am running a few of them in the house are no problems. They are fairly cheap and come with a 3 year warranty. One of mine stopped working last week. Got on to their support and I posted it to an address in England at a cost of €4. Received a new replacement today by courier. I was very impressed with the service. I wish every company was as good replacing faulty goods.

Dinarius

An I right in thinking that only the most expensive of the Argos offerings are both Ethernet AND wifi?

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/1168680/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7C19780850%7CWireless+networking%7C14419015/c_3/4%7Ccat_14419015%7CPowerline+adaptor+kits%7C26066890.htm

I'd like to have wifi also to give my iPhone a helping hand. It currently had difficulties in certain parts of the house with just the modem.

D.

Shamo

Another vote for TP-Link. Had a Belkin pair first but didn't last long and have been using TP-Links since 2011 with no issues.

Currently have the TL-PA511KIT model. They announced AV1000 models but it's not on sale yet.
I got them off Amazon and make sure to get the gigabit ethernet port version as it is possible to push past 100Mb/s with them sometimes.

Having said that, if you just need wireless and 100Mb ports then go for the one you posted above.

Johnboy1951

A little off topic maybe, but wonder if someone can answer please .....

IIRC there were a couple of different 'standards' for PLAs and some would not connect to others.

Is the situation still the same these days?
or can PLAs from different manufacturers be used together?

Also ..... is there a limit on the number of 'client' devices that can connect to the 'server' device?

ED E

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug#Versions

See here.


Also, its a shared medium, so if you have 2 Homeplugs and get 100Mbps throughput just say, with three you'll get 50Mbps, 4 and you'll get 30ish and so on. So dont add too many.

Johnboy1951

ED E wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug#Versions

See here.


Also, its a shared medium, so if you have 2 Homeplugs and get 100Mbps throughput just say, with three you'll get 50Mbps, 4 and you'll get 30ish and so on. So dont add too many.

Thank you.

It appears that one should stick to HomePlug AV/AV2 for best compatibility across manufacturers of devices.

I noticed this

However, some manufacturers only supply the password-setup software in a Microsoft Windows version; in other words, enabling encryption requires a computer running Windows [1]

I did not find a list of those manufacturers or devices.
I would like to avoid them if possible, so any info would be appreciated.

Dinarius

Ok, so I bought a pair of these......

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/1397640/c_1/1|category_root|Office%2C+PCs+and+phones|14418968/c_2/3|19780850|Wireless+networking|14419015/c_3/4|cat_14419015|Powerline+adaptor+kits|26066890.htm

One is plugged into my modem upstairs and is showing 3 green LEDs. The other is plugged into my internet radio downstairs and is also showing 3 green LEDs.

When I check in Settings on the radio, it says that there is an Ethernet connection.

However, I am getting no radio signal.

I have rebooted both the radio and the powerline adapter connected to it a few times, but to no avail.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

D.

Ps. Probably stating the obvious, but they do come with two Ethernet cables, just in case anyone was wondering. And they are tiny pieces of kit - very neat!

Dinarius

Ps. I connected a laptop the to powerline adapter (taking care to disconnect the wifi connection first so that I wouldn't be fooled in any way) and it runs like a train.

Also, the internet radio says "Connected" on the display.

But, it just won't play any internet stations, for some reason.

D.

who_me

I've used TP-Link 500Mbps and was very happy with them. Stable connection, and real-world speeds (in this case, copying a file) are typically about 90Mbps. From what I've read elsewhere, that's about par - expect typically about 20% of the advertised speed.

I read somewhere that many of these devices (500Mbps adapters, not necessarily TP-Link's) have a 100Mbps Ethernet port, I don't know if that's true; but if it is it makes advertising any higher speed pretty disingenuous. Unless perhaps you have several such adaptors and are availing of the "500Mbps" overall.

I've now actually stopped using them as with a new desktop & router combination (dual-band router with MIMO, desktop supports AC but am only using N) I'm getting faster speeds - up to 130Mbps.

Jumbo156

Excuse my ignorance here, ( just recently have got my attic converted, and have very little wifi signal in my attic) but If I buy one of these, can I plug one into the wall and join it with an ethernet cable to my modem in my sitting room and plug the other one into the wall in my attic, can I connect wirelessly to the one in my bedroom, ( tablets smart phone etc)

Alun

Jumbo156 wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance here, ( just recently have got my attic converted, and have very little wifi signal in my attic) but If I buy one of these, can I plug one into the wall and join it with an ethernet cable to my modem in my sitting room and plug the other one into the wall in my attic, can I connect wirelessly to the one in my bedroom, ( tablets smart phone etc)

You can get homeplugs that are Ethernet only, ones that do WiFi, and ones that do both. Often they're available as a starter kit with one Ethernet only one to plug into your router and another WiFi (or WiFi plus Ethernet) one for extending your wireless signal to other parts of the house.