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Networking w/ Powerlines

B

Bedrock1977

n00b
Joined
Dec 20, 2010
Messages
61
Does anyone have experience with using the Powerline networking adapters that are currently on the market?

I saw a statement that Gigabit ethernet adapters are the fastest type of NIC card you can get, with the exception of Wireless AC.

Using these would definitely eliminate the wireless problems I've been having.
 
I use them and like them. They won't transfer at Gigabit speeds, but if your wireless is spotty, they are a good choice.

Some may disagree , but I would avoid MoCA type adapters for now.
 
I was really surprised how well these work. I was concerned that they would not push the connection out to my detached garage, but it hooked right up no fuss. Months later I realized the 2 units were not even on the same phase, so the signal is jumping phase in the breaker panel and still serving the garage...impressive.
 
Gigabit over RJ45 is fastest if you have the luxury of running in-house cabling. If not, Homeplug AV2 is about a quarter of the speed of gigabit in my house but varies from house to house and is faster than 802.11ac if passing through walls. Newer Homeplug AV2 MIMO is slightly faster but not at twice the cost of AV2 non-MIMO.
 
Ehren8879 said:
I use them and like them. They won't transfer at Gigabit speeds, but if your wireless is spotty, they are a good choice.

Some may disagree , but I would avoid MoCA type adapters for now.
Click to expand...

What's the issue with MoCA other than being difficult to find these days? I've been using it for 5 years and these sort of broad statements perk my ears up.
 
Results vary depending on quality of power wiring, phases of the moon, etc..
Expect about 50% of the rated speed on any powerline gear if things turn out good. Less if they don't.
In a noisy wireless area they can be a good alternative that's more reliable.
 
I have had poor experience with powerline networking unfortunately. :( In my experiences, they will work for a while and then stop working -- have to go and resync the nodes in person. At my apartment, I wasn't successful with any connection even having both nodes plugged into the same wall outlet.
 
I use a pair of Zyxel powerline networking adapters without issue. Have had them for two years.
Reliable and easy.
Get about 250mbit throughout my apartment.
 
I've used Ethernet, MoCA, Powerline Networking, and WiFi.

In terms of rating I'd consider

Ethernet > MoCA > Powerline >>> WiFi.

I pulled lots of gigabit drops in my home as a retrofit (ie. not new construction), 14 in total. On the upper floor of my home I was unable to pull drops to some spots due to location as I'd need to do lots of drywall cutting / floor removal to realistically pull lines. For those locations I used a combination of MoCA and Powerline adapters. MoCA transmits at full 100 mbit speeds to the PC. Network shares move at 11.5-12.2 MB/sec. My powerline adapters are 200 AV standard, I was able to get a consistent 55 mbit through them. I also have lots of wifi APs in my area (a total of 33 SSIDs are picked up in my home), so wireless bandwidth is less then good. For comparison, my wireless gear is pretty good (Unifi APs) and because of all the interference I only get 20-30 mbit speeds, which is actually an improvement over my old netgear router where I would get 5-8 mbps.

If you go powerline make sure to get something on the AV standard (AV 200, AV500, AV600), not the older standards. I think there is AV1000 now too, but don't quote me on that one.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses.

I have a wireless PC upstairs in our house, that has a radio scanner connected to the sound card in put. I have a Linksys USB wifi adapter, which connects to the WRT160N router in the office on the floor directly below. This scanner is providing the audio that I stream out onto the internet (LiveATC.net). Every so often, the internet connection drops, and I have to run home, reconnect the internet upstairs, and wait for the next time I have to do it. The WIFI adapter maintains a wireless connection to the router, it just constantly drops the internet. However, the wired connection to the PC downstairs never drops. My hopes are using power line networking adapters, would solve the problem I am having.

I'll check out some of the adapters you've mentioned and see if one will work.

Chris
 
i've been using a cheapy "400mbps" set from monoprice for probably around 2 years now for a ip cam out in my shed with 0 issues...

they've been rock solid
 
David_Schroth said:
What's the issue with MoCA other than being difficult to find these days? I've been using it for 5 years and these sort of broad statements perk my ears up.
Click to expand...

Mostly due to potential interference from other cable/satellite devices.

That and powerline is a better bang for the buck.
 
I had some slow IOGear units that worked flawlessly for a couple years.

I upgraded to faster NetGear units and they worked, but had to be unplugged and plugged back in to reconnect every couple months (this seems to be true of everything NetGear I've ever touched).
 
Mackintire said:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1040532660&postcount=11


I've explained this all before. The link I posted above is written to address streaming UDP data specifically, as there are many conditions where retransmissions are possible and that requirement would jumble the order of what I would recommend.
Click to expand...

Nice post. How do you test the electrical phases of the outlets in question? Is AV2 adequate for low ping gaming, or am I better off using 802.11ac?
 
Ruiner said:
How do you test the electrical phases of the outlets in question?
Click to expand...

run an extension cord from one to the other, test voltage between both line terminals (narrower blade) with multimeter set to appropriate AC Volts scale

0V same phase

~220V opposite phase

standard line voltage safety disclaimer applies

that said, I have had good luck regardless of phase
 
Thx. Sounds easy enough to check. What about pings over powerline?
 
Mine worked well and were marginally faster then Wifi until one adapter randomly died one day.
 
I've actually had great speeds, and they have worked out better than I expected for my needs. I only had to use them twice, but both times they worked out perfectly.
 
markwo said:
I upgraded to faster NetGear units and they worked, but had to be unplugged and plugged back in to reconnect every couple months (this seems to be true of everything NetGear I've ever touched).
Click to expand...

Maybe has to do with power saving and they're not waking properly. Some units have an option or utility to turn off power saving.
 
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