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Powerline Adapter Questions

Wtalk2

Hey LTT,

 

Recentently I brought an old laptop to my dad's house to use as my main computer there. It is by no means fast but it gets the job done for internet browsing and messing around in Visual Studio 2013. The only problem is that I can't have the router in my room and there is no practical way for me to run an ethernet cable to the router in my dad's room so I'm stuck using WiFi and the WiFi adapter in the laptop is COMPLETE GARBAGE I am getting between 1/10 and 1/20 of the speeds that my dads computer gets (His computer is wired to the router with ethernet) I have come to the conclusion that the only way I will be able to effectively use the internet on this laptop is through a powerline adapter.

 

I have some questions about it though, 

 

1.Will the reliability of a powerline adapter be a lot better than using WiFi?

 

2. Any reasons not to go with a powerline adapter?

 

3. Will this powerline adapter work well for my needs? http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_1054_360&item_id=064326

 

PS: My internet speed is only 30/5 Mbits/s and my main computer usage consist's of web browsing, talking on a small Teamspeak server and playing on a small Minecraft server.

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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I got powerline adapters recently and have been very happy with the experience. At the end of the day nothing will beat a direct ethernet connection, but if that isn't viable or convenient then powerline adapters are great. To answer your questions directly:

 

1. Yes. I went from an unstable ~150KB/s average download speed over WiFi (could be ~75KB/s on a bad day, ~250KB/s on a good day) to a stable 1.2MB/s download speed over powerline adapters - which is the same speed that I get by plugging my computer directly into my router.

 

2. Ethernet would be 'better' because I suppose the powerline adapter could fail at some point, and it will take up a power plug (not recommended to plug into a powerboard, not sure whether it matters or not but that's what I've read). However, you can get some models that have A/C passthrough. But otherwise no not really. 

 

3. Looks alright, see no reason not to get it. Unless you want to get one with A/C passthrough (so you can plug your computer, phone charger or something else into the same plug) or if you get one with a built in WiFi adapter like I did (so I get better WiFi on my phone, and the ethernet for my PC).

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I got powerline adapters recently and have been very happy with the experience. At the end of the day nothing will beat a direct ethernet connection, but if that isn't viable or convenient then powerline adapters are great. To answer your questions directly:

 

1. Yes. I went from an unstable ~150KB/s average download speed over WiFi (could be ~75KB/s on a bad day, ~250KB/s on a good day) to a stable 1.2MB/s download speed over powerline adapters - which is the same speed that I get by plugging my computer directly into my router.

 

2. Ethernet would be 'better' because I suppose the powerline adapter could fail at some point, and it will take up a power plug (not recommended to plug into a powerboard, not sure whether it matters or not but that's what I've read). However, you can get some models that have A/C passthrough. But otherwise no not really. 

 

3. Looks alright, see no reason not to get it. Unless you want to get one with A/C passthrough (so you can plug your computer, phone charger or something else into the same plug) or if you get one with a built in WiFi adapter like I did (so I get better WiFi on my phone, and the ethernet for my PC).

 

Thanks for the response :D

 

I don't really need AC passthrough because my setup only requires 2 plugs (1 for the monitor and 1 for the laptop) and I can use one of the wall plugs for the powerline and the other for a powerbar which I can plug the monitor and laptop into, I also won't really need the built-in WiFi adapter since I have unlimited 4G data on my phone and I don't use anything else that runs off WiFi :)

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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1. If I read what you're saying correctly and you're getting 3Mbps or so over WiFi? Yeah, powerline should do a better job. The strength of powerline is really in its ability to run at a decent speed where wireless is effectively dead. It's *not* faster than good WiFi, it's *not* more stable and it's *not* lower latency than good WiFi running properly. But it destroys WiFi for range.

 

2. Only go for powerline when WiFi is unreliable and you can't run Ethernet. It's a very specific use-case.

 

3. With AV500 adapters you should be getting speeds of around 60Mbps. So for just browsing the internet you should be more than fine. However if you can get an AV600 kit? That'll push the speeds up beyond 100Mbps. Which might not make much of a difference for your use but it's a nice little bit of extra headroom. Frankly you could get away with an AV200 kit if you're just "browsing the nets" on a 30Mbps connection.

Fools think they know everything, experts know they know nothing

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Hey LTT,

 

Recentently I brought an old laptop to my dad's house to use as my main computer there. It is by no means fast but it gets the job done for internet browsing and messing around in Visual Studio 2013. The only problem is that I can't have the router in my room and there is no practical way for me to run an ethernet cable to the router in my dad's room so I'm stuck using WiFi and the WiFi adapter in the laptop is COMPLETE GARBAGE I am getting between 1/10 and 1/20 of the speeds that my dads computer gets (His computer is wired to the router with ethernet) I have come to the conclusion that the only way I will be able to effectively use the internet on this laptop is through a powerline adapter.

 

I have some questions about it though, 

 

1.Will the reliability of a powerline adapter be a lot better than using WiFi?

 

2. Any reasons not to go with a powerline adapter?

 

3. Will this powerline adapter work well for my needs? http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_1054_360&item_id=064326

 

PS: My internet speed is only 30/5 Mbits/s and my main computer usage consist's of web browsing, talking on a small Teamspeak server and playing on a small Minecraft server.

  1. Certainly. Any hard wired connection is almost always going to be more reliable than flaky WiFi (exceptions being cables with damaged wires, or loose connectors, or a flaky wired NIC)
  2. If you can run straight up Ethernet, it's much better as it won't take up an outlet socket, and, powerline is dependent on the quality of wiring in your house. If you have poor wiring in the house, expect poor results, especially if it's a much older home.
  3. It should work fine, since nothing you're doing is extremely network intensive.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke
Just because it may seem like magic, I'm not a wizard, just a nerd. I am fallible. 


Use the quote button or @<username> to reply to people | Mark solved troubleshooting topics as such, selecting the correct answer, and follow them to get replies!

Community Standards | Guides & Tutorials Troubleshooting Section

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  1. Certainly. Any hard wired connection is almost always going to be more reliable than flaky WiFi (exceptions being cables with damaged wires, or loose connectors, or a flaky wired NIC)
  2. If you can run straight up Ethernet, it's much better as it won't take up an outlet socket, and, powerline is dependent on the quality of wiring in your house. If you have poor wiring in the house, expect poor results, especially if it's a much older home.
  3. It should work fine, since nothing you're doing is extremely network intensive.

 

Thanks for the reply :) I bought that kit today and so far I love it! I'm getting the same speeds my dad gets and he is connected by ethernet to the router :D also I didn't notice any significant increase in pings, plus it only cost me $40 :)

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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Thanks for the reply :) I bought that kit today and so far I love it! I'm getting the same speeds my dad gets and he is connected by ethernet to the router :D also I didn't notice any significant increase in pings, plus it only cost me $40 :)

Yeah powerline can be a great alternative. It does suffer a few issues like being prone to interference (especially if you have halogen lights), but really, most people never incur them. I still prefer Ethernet, only because it leaves me an extra open socket, but I've no gripes against it.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke
Just because it may seem like magic, I'm not a wizard, just a nerd. I am fallible. 


Use the quote button or @<username> to reply to people | Mark solved troubleshooting topics as such, selecting the correct answer, and follow them to get replies!

Community Standards | Guides & Tutorials Troubleshooting Section

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Just as an additional bit about the latency if anyone else stumbles across this, ran this test just now:

 

Gigabit Ethernet:

Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms

 
WiFi (through a brick wall, 2.4G @ N150):
Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 1ms
 
Powerline (AV200, fairly decent wiring):

Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 3ms, Average = 3ms

 

That said, when WiFi starts to go out of range you'll start to lose packets and the latency will go all over the shop. Plus unless you're doing something like Steam In-Home streaming the extra 2ms probably makes no difference at all. It's just that people have this weird assumption that powerline is inherently "lower latency" when most of the time it isn't. Maybe because people are comparing powerline to broken WiFi in which case sure, broken WiFi is broken. Which is stupid because when it's working well WiFi will beat powerline in every measure. 

Fools think they know everything, experts know they know nothing

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