Powerline Adapter Recommendation ?

[rich_tech]

Hello,

 

I am due to lose my man cave shortly, birth of our son is fast approaching (1st March) and I need to clear out my desk from my own home office, so to speak, lol

 

Anyhow I am basically looking to move my machine into the wife and I's bedroom, whereas I had virgin at installation run a 25 metre long cable internally to get the cable up into the back bedroom of our house, obviously there isnt enough cable to get into our main bedroom and the wife doesnt want me running any new cabling within the house, so I am thinking get a hold of some powerline adapters, as they seem to be all the rage and will fix the problem, as I can just relocate the virgin hub to the main installation point and cable accordingly (dont fancy the wireless hub being left in the babies room obviously)

 

So, I ask,

 

What should I look for in a powerline adapter ? I primarily use my PC for online gaming - WoW and FPS games atm, though obviously am thinking of streaming films and such going forward.

 

Do they cause any issues with things like online gaming or do they "just work" to borrow that phrase from a well known evil corporation ?

 

I am looking to spend about £40 or thereabouts.

 

So can anyone recommend one for me ?

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

[Ashm]

I purchased these ones a few months back - TP-Link TL-PA411KIT 500Mbps Mini Powerline Adapter.. | Ebuyer.com

 

Have not had any major issues with them, and the connection has been a lot more reliable than the wireless bridge I had going from our router downstairs to my man cave.

 

I didn't see the point in buying the versions with the gigabit ports since looking at reviews, unless you have them plugged in next to each other you're unlikely to max out the 10/100 port. I'm finding I get around 6-7 MB/s between one connected upstairs and the other downstairs.

[3s-gtech]

HExus reviewed the TP-Link 500mbps models recently, very impressive for the money. I have a pair of Devolo ones, there's a basic unit and the 'receiver' has wireless N and three ports, quite handy if your main wifi is weak or distant. Meets my needs, but then my broadband maxes out at 1.5mbps!

[jmak]

Congratulations! And loss of man cave is only likely to be a temporary set back. I have been able to buy all kinds of things that I wouldn't have got away with if I wasn't buying for the boys

 

My experience is that powerline adaptors just work. Personally I've only used Homeplug, as that's what comes with BT Vision. A year's subscription to that was cheaper than I set of Powerline adapters. I've also "set up" some D-Link and Netgear systems for other people which were similarly simple.

 

As with anything, they never seem to be as fast as the manufacturer's claim, but I've never found them to be too slow for home use - way faster and more reliable than wi-fi and fit for streaming HD around the house. Speed is definitely influenced by the quality and length of the power cables, butin general I've been astonished. I was a real sceptic, as my instinct has always been to keep data and 50Hz as far away from each other as possible.

[pcstru]

(dont fancy the wireless hub being left in the babies room obviously)

 

Quite right. You don't want a baby with unsupervised network access. ;-).

 

Do they cause any issues with things like online gaming or do they "just work" to borrow that phrase from a well known evil corporation ?

 

I am looking to spend about £40 or thereabouts.

 

I use several Delovo 200 units, with the link between my 'office' and the BT router going via powerline. Games seem to be OK - I play a bit of counterstrike, a combat flight sim and a smattering of online racing. I think a basic kit will be more than £40 (double?). I've had several of the delovo units for 2 years now and they have been very (100%) reliable.

[Mr.Ben]

I picked up some TP-Link kit at Argos for £60. To be honest I can only approve of it as the speed has been excellent and I've never had any issues with them. Much better than the rubbish I was using from BT (they came free with a vision box and were awful).

[Brucy]

7 day shop do some own brand as well, i've got the 200mbs ones and they seem fine. Top out at 60 odd meg but thats in a 60's house so the wirings probably not great!

[Ric_]

My 2p... I have a selection of Netgear ones... all seem fine (I have one with an inbuilt 4 port switch that has basic port-based QoS which is pretty cool).

[rich_tech]

Thanks for your feedback all, its a tossup here between a tp-link pair and a pair of netgears on ebuyer both are around 40 pound, which is within my price range and I want as fast as can be looking forwards

 

lol @pcstru made me smile reading that

Edited November 21, 2012 by rich_tech

[laserblazer]

I bought a couple of TPLink 85mbs ones a couple of years back and during that time, I have had a 1500µF capacitor pack up in both units. Not a major problem as they are simple to replace but I have now started to only switch them on when needed (watching iPlayer on the TV)

[laserblazer]

After replacing the third capacitor one of the spring connections for the power connector snapped off. I was going to try and solder a lead and then I noticed Currys/PCWorld do a 200mbs pair for £19.99. ON NETWORKS PL200-199UKS 200 Mbps Powerline Adapter Kit Deals | Pcworld Just installed and working well. It comes with a two year warranty. It doesn't look like it is configurable but it does have an encryption button.

[timbo343]

After replacing the third capacitor one of the spring connections for the power connector snapped off. I was going to try and solder a lead and then I noticed Currys/PCWorld do a 200mbs pair for £19.99. ON NETWORKS PL200-199UKS 200 Mbps Powerline Adapter Kit Deals | Pcworld Just installed and working well. It comes with a two year warranty. It doesn't look like it is configurable but it does have an encryption button.

 

 

I saw these. Are these any good? Whats the encryption? Im planning on buying the tp link ones at £30 with 128bit encryption. I guess thats the only thing putting me off the on networks ones.

 

Ive already used the dlink ones which are very good in someones house and we use the early blue usb and ethernet ones at work iris connect. Ive also used the netgear wireless extender which is usefull however the price is a bit off putting at the moment

Edited March 9, 2013 by timbo343

[plexer]

You need encryption on your mains?

 

Ben

[timbo343]

You need encryption on your mains?

 

Ben

 

You never know but i can see your point.

[laserblazer]

If the next door neighbour had the same model? I haven't enabled the encryption though.

[timbo343]

I cant even get them to talk through the same distribution board as we have had a extension put on the house, never mind next door . Prob opt for the cheaper ones and just been in to currys (not a currys pc world) and they are £25 instead of £20 .

[laserblazer]

I cant even get them to talk through the same distribution board as we have had a extension put on the house, never mind next door . Prob opt for the cheaper ones and just been in to currys (not a currys pc world) and they are £25 instead of £20 .

 

Have you checked to see if you can reserve it on line to collect at your branch. We had to drive to Kidderminster to get our as there was no stock in Worcester or the surrounds.

[timbo343]

Popped into meadow hall in the end as i was passing and got some on networks ones for £20.

[pcstru]

I cant even get them to talk through the same distribution board as we have had a extension put on the house, never mind next door . Prob opt for the cheaper ones and just been in to currys (not a currys pc world) and they are £25 instead of £20 .

 

I manage a good powerline connection out to my 'man cave', so any connection has to go through two boards and an additional breaker. There is a (slim) possibility that your main board is split using different phases. It would be unusual (but not unheard of) and if that is the case you will have problems.

[timbo343]

I can confirm that with the on networks powerline adapters they work across a distribution board which means they work in the extension happy days :):)

[laserblazer]

That's great.