Powerline vs. Mesh Wifi for Gigabit Internet

[James300]

I'm lucky enough to live in area that's currently being cabled for gigabit internet in the coming weeks (Probably 2-3 months until go live). I live in a 60's built house, and currently use powerline to connect to my router, though the wifi in my house provided by my ISP provided router is pretty dreadful. My powerline adapters can sometimes be a little temperamental at times (Dropping down to 2 Mb down/20Mb up on speed test), but nothing that isn't fixed by a reset.

 

I'm more than happy to buy some new powerline adapters or invest in a mesh wifi set up. What's the hivemind's opinion as to the best option to move forward with? I'm not a massive gamer so could live with a bit of latency, however would like the option to transfer large files, so don't want to hamstring the connection with a wifi setup that can't handle the data

 

Thanks!

[Levent]

You most likely wont be getting gigabit with either. I would suggest you get wired connection.

[Windows7ge]

Powerline won't get you Gigabit and neither will Wi-Fi. Your only real option here is a solid wired connection.

[FloRolf]

I lived with Powerline for almost 3 years because I was too lazy to install proper wires. 

Now that I did though, it's night and day. Do yourself a favor and run a CAT6a cable around. 

[steelo]

1 hour ago, James300 said:

I'm lucky enough to live in area that's currently being cabled for gigabit internet in the coming weeks (Probably 2-3 months until go live). I live in a 60's built house, and currently use powerline to connect to my router, though the wifi in my house provided by my ISP provided router is pretty dreadful. My powerline adapters can sometimes be a little temperamental at times (Dropping down to 2 Mb down/20Mb up on speed test), but nothing that isn't fixed by a reset.

 

I'm more than happy to buy some new powerline adapters or invest in a mesh wifi set up. What's the hivemind's opinion as to the best option to move forward with? I'm not a massive gamer so could live with a bit of latency, however would like the option to transfer large files, so don't want to hamstring the connection with a wifi setup that can't handle the data

 

Thanks!

 I use powerline adapters but only get ~40 Mbps in my second floor office. My house is around 1500 sq ft and 20 years old so the electrical is fairly modern. Using wifi, I would get around ~100 Mbps upstairs on a 2.4 ghz band but the connection wasn't always stable. Wifi is better if your router is able to provide good coverage but you're not going to get anywhere near 1 gigabit speeds throughout your home.

 

I would seriously look into wiring your home with CAT6 cable.

[SenKa]

Powerline adapters perform variably due to a variety of factors including but not limited to:

How close you are to the sun

If its raining outside

If youre using your cellphone

How drunk your great aunt mary is in the other room

If your refrigerator is, infact, running

If your little brother is making chicken nuggies in the microwave

Your FBI agent's proximity to you as he watches you through your webcam

If you are on the same circuit of the houses wiring on both ends

How old your home is

 

(Do note the only one that doesnt actually have a theoretical impact on powerline adapters is your great aunt mary, unless shes on the phone as well...)

 

Anyways, powerline adapters suck. In the absolute BEST CASE scenario, "gigabit" powerline adapters will give you 50Mb/s. And thats with them literally plugged in to each other. They suck, and if they decide to pair is basically random luck in my experience. Wifi mesh is the lesser of 2 evils, but if at all possible just run some Cat6 and be done with it.

[steelo]

44 minutes ago, SenKa said:

Powerline adapters perform variably due to a variety of factors including but not limited to:

How close you are to the sun

If its raining outside

If youre using your cellphone

How drunk your great aunt mary is in the other room

If your refrigerator is, infact, running

If your little brother is making chicken nuggies in the microwave

Your FBI agent's proximity to you as he watches you through your webcam

If you are on the same circuit of the houses wiring on both ends

How old your home is

 

(Do note the only one that doesnt actually have a theoretical impact on powerline adapters is your great aunt mary, unless shes on the phone as well...)

 

Anyways, powerline adapters suck. In the absolute BEST CASE scenario, "gigabit" powerline adapters will give you 50Mb/s. And thats with them literally plugged in to each other. They suck, and if they decide to pair is basically random luck in my experience. Wifi mesh is the lesser of 2 evils, but if at all possible just run some Cat6 and be done with it.

It is what it is. They are a cheap solution for those not willing (or able) to wire CAT6 cable throughout their home but need a stable, relatively fast connection across all floors (assuming their homes electrical system is up to par) In our case, wifi would just barely reach the other end of our home on the 2nd floor and IMO this is a much better solution than using a wifi extender. Routing ethernet cables between floors would be extremely cumbersome in our home.

 

I wouldn't say they suck, but one needs to keep their expectations realistic. Anywhere between 25-50  Mbps is a reasonable expectation under ideal conditions.

[Alex Atkin UK]

1 hour ago, steelo said:

It is what it is. They are a cheap solution for those not willing (or able) to wire CAT6 cable throughout their home but need a stable, relatively fast connection across all floors (assuming their homes electrical system is up to par) In our case, wifi would just barely reach the other end of our home on the 2nd floor and IMO this is a much better solution than using a wifi extender. Routing ethernet cables between floors would be extremely cumbersome in our home.

 

I wouldn't say they suck, but one needs to keep their expectations realistic. Anywhere between 25-50  Mbps is a reasonable expectation under ideal conditions.

You'd expect them to get at least 75% of their rated speed when plugged into a nearby socket (not sure about same socket, maybe that runs into the same issues as WiFi when too close to the AP, it can actually have too much gain), otherwise its plain false advertising.  My phone on WiFi can get up to 620Mbit off an 866Mbit link speed when right next to the Access Point, which is reasonable considering overheads, etc.

[steelo]

1 hour ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

You'd expect them to get at least 75% of their rated speed when plugged into a nearby socket (not sure about same socket, maybe that runs into the same issues as WiFi when too close to the AP, it can actually have too much gain), otherwise its plain false advertising.  My phone on WiFi can get up to 620Mbit off an 866Mbit link speed when right next to the Access Point, which is reasonable considering overheads, etc.

The advertising often states 'up to xxxx mbps' I agree though ethernet and wifi are often superior options. Unfortunately, with a medium to large home with multiple floors, wifi coverage can often suck. I would randomly lose my wifi connection upstairs. Powerline is slower but in my case, rock solid as far as connections go.

[James300]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

I'll hold off until the service is installed and run cable through the house. I'll likely end up getting Mesh wifi to address the spotty wifi as well

[divito]

I have used powerline adapters in the past, in a 30+ year old house that had a weird layout. While the router was centrally located, it was kind of stuck in/beside a closet and the walls in the house were plaster, making for more issues; thus WiFi was incredibly inconsistent, even with a repeater.

I didn't spring for the fastest powerline models, but streaming was much improved versus WiFi, and I used them for a bedroom PC, Playstation 4 in the living room, and my ex's computer, with an extra one in the basement for Android TV. Outside of the adapters needing the odd reset, there was very little hassle overall and speeds for transfers were decent enough.

I'm currently in a similar conundrum (as I left my adapters with my ex). My wife and I currently lease a house, and I'm not incredibly fond of wiring up someone else's house for a relatively minor convenience of slightly faster internet. I have Gigabit internet here, and while my setup is nicely in the office with my router, the office is in a corner of the house and getting good coverage up to our master bedroom on the second floor, and in the opposite corner, isn't always reliable for our TV or our phones. I bridged my modem and got a better router which helped a decent amount, but it still was a bit too flakey for my liking.

I had an AC1200 repeater lying around, and it's improved the situation a bit. The house simply isn't big enough or problematic enough to make mesh worth the investment, and I honestly think I'm going to go back to powerline and put one of the combo powerline/WiFi adapters into the bedroom. If I owned the house, or knew for sure I'd be here for many more years, I'd put in the work to wire what I needed. And it sounds like you're taking that option, so good luck!

 

 

[James300]

Thanks!

 

I've always had a plan to turn a converted garage (Current storage room) into an office/ second lounge/ mancave, so this is a useful kick for me to get around and decorate it

 

I reckon some LMG displates would look cool on the walls. I might have to post a battlestation pic when it's all finished.

 

The works have been delayed by a couple of weeks, so based on the timings on other users, it may be May/June before a switch on. There are also 100Mb and 500Mb options that might be a bit more sensible for my uses, but more is more!