Powerline network adapter question

[Darkclone]

Hi All,

 

I am looking to buy a powerline network adapter as I cannot currently run an Ethernet cable from my router to my computer.

 

The question I have is how powerful an adapter should I actually look at getting? I currently have 50Mbps download internet (hopefully going up to 100Mbps when the lines are upgraded for my area). I have been looking at adapters and have seen they go all the way up to 2000Mbps units, but it seems like there is not point in that seeing as my connection reaches no where near that speed.

 

For instance there is this unit at officeworks which is 500Mbps https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/tp-link-av600-nano-powerline-adaptor-starter-kit-tl-pa411kit-tptlpa411#specifications

Or this one that is 2000Mbps https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/tp-link-av2000-gigabit-passthrough-powerline-kit-tptlpa9020

(Yes I am from Australia)

 

Could someone correct me if this is wrong please?

 

The reason I am looking at a powerline ethernet adapter is because I am currently working from home using a virtual machine and it lags anytime I need to save anything or move any browser windows around. I also game. So any improvement would be good and now is a good time to claim it on tax haha.

 

Thanks.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Be careful with the stated bandwidth on powerline adapters, they have a tendency to say 1500Mbps or so but then only use 100Mbps ethernet ports. For example, the AV600 that you linked uses 100Mbps ports, so you're going to max out at 100Mbps regardless of what TP-Link claims the transfer rate is. 

 

On that site, I'd recommend going for the Netgear PL1000, not really any point in spending more on the AV2000 kit when both are capped by 1Gbps ports anyway. 

 

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/netgear-1000mbps-powerline-adaptor-kit-pl1000-ngpl10001

[Darkclone]

Thank you so much for that. I knew there would be something I was missing looking at it all.

[GuiltySpark_]

If you find you're not happy with Powerline networking, I suggest looking at MoCA if that's available in Australia. It tends to be much more stable and generally offer greater bandwidth vs. powerline. 

[leclod]

Also the speed advertised is always in ideal conditions.

In reality, expect half of those speeds if your conditions are decent (distance, interference)

[Darkclone]

Thanks, not sure if it is available here but will have a look.

[leclod]

1 hour ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Be careful with the stated bandwidth on powerline adapters, they have a tendency to say 1500Mbps or so but then only use 100Mbps ethernet ports. For example, the AV600 that you linked uses 100Mbps ports, so you're going to max out at 100Mbps regardless of what TP-Link claims the transfer rate is.

It seems you're right.

It does make some sense if you consider that you can connect multiple 100Mbps clients to one...no it doesn't make sense. Weird

[Alex Atkin UK]

4 hours ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

On that site, I'd recommend going for the Netgear PL1000, not really any point in spending more on the AV2000 kit when both are capped by 1Gbps ports anyway. 

 

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/netgear-1000mbps-powerline-adaptor-kit-pl1000-ngpl10001

That's not entirely true as like WiFi you will never get line rate and the rate can drop depending on your mains cable quality and distance.   You'll likely not get close to Gigabit on Gigabit devices, but might on 2Gbit ones.  Although that's not important in this particular case unless the user plans to transfer files between a PC on the Powerline and a PC connected directly to the router at some point, THEN the extra speed can come in handy.

 

4 hours ago, Darkclone said:

The reason I am looking at a powerline ethernet adapter is because I am currently working from home using a virtual machine and it lags anytime I need to save anything or move any browser windows around. I also game. So any improvement would be good and now is a good time to claim it on tax haha.

Unfortunately Powerline is not guaranteed to be better than WiFi, in many cases it can be worse, but you wont know without trying it.

Also beware if your broadband is delivered by telephone line as Powerline can interfere with DSL, but again you can't know if it will or not without testing it.  High-end powerline usually has a special VDSL mode to try to avoid it which is another thing where the lower end units may be lacking.