Ethernet Powerline Adapter Questions

[Killuasbtw]

I want to move my pc to a different room, but cant extend my ehternet to said room. If i wanted to buy a powerline adapter how do i manage to keep the same speeds i have now?

[DarkSwordsman]

It depends on the length, routing, quality of cable, and quality of power you have. For example, someone I know has gigabit internet. The adapters can do 1 Gbps, but they could only reliably manage about 90-100 Mbps. Though sometimes it would drop to about 40-60 Mbps or lose packets.

It's really a gamble. The best bet would be to purchase them, test them, and hope you can get a refund within a week or two if they don't work out.

[Dedayog]

I'd forgoe Powerline and just do good wifi.    Never had I seen Powerline really maintain good speeds unless it was the set I had 20 years ago that did 30MB on my 50MB Comcast plan.  Now?  It's an interesting technology but at the end of the day you're reliant on the ELECTRICAL wiring in your home.  

 

Use a nice dedicated wifi.

[xc3ll]

I would also recommend buying the highest speed ones. As @DarkSwordsmansaid, real-world speed is a gamble and almost always significantly lower than on the box. So with a 1200Mbps kit, the highest I've ever seen was an average of ~350MBps - Which is not too bad, actually.

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, Killuasbtw said:

how do i manage to keep the same speeds i have now?

you dont.

 

if both powerline adapters are on the same circuit there's a chance you'll get okay performance out of them, but if the two rooms are on separate breakers, speeds will be "shit at best".

 

depending on the build style of your house (wall thickness, amount of concrete used, location of the desk, potential WAP locations, etc.) wifi might be a FAR better investment than powerlines.

 

but then again, if you live in a brick and concrete fortress (some houses are built VERY strong), live in a very dense metropolitan area ('block of flats' type of deal), or already have a lot of interference in the house.. powerline might be more reliable than wifi.

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, xc3ll said:

I would also recommend buying the highest speed ones.

i wouldnt.

 

i have a pair of '300Mbps' powerline adapters that outperform a set of '1200Mbps' powerline adapters.

 

funniest thing about that as well, is that the two completely different sets from different vendors will actually talk to each other just fine.

[Killuasbtw]

14 minutes ago, manikyath said:

you dont.

 

if both powerline adapters are on the same circuit there's a chance you'll get okay performance out of them, but if the two rooms are on separate breakers, speeds will be "shit at best".

 

depending on the build style of your house (wall thickness, amount of concrete used, location of the desk, potential WAP locations, etc.) wifi might be a FAR better investment than powerlines.

 

but then again, if you live in a brick and concrete fortress (some houses are built VERY strong), live in a very dense metropolitan area ('block of flats' type of deal), or already have a lot of interference in the house.. powerline might be more reliable than wifi.

This is what I run wired right now (in the closest station). Wireless in the room i want drops to about 440/35, will it be too drastic a difference?

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Killuasbtw said:

This is what I run wired right now (in the closest station). Wireless in the room i want drops to about 440/35, will it be too drastic a difference?

i wouldnt expect more than 100Mbps out of powerline, unless the adapters somehow got exponentially better in the last few years.

[Dedayog]

12 minutes ago, Killuasbtw said:

This is what I run wired right now (in the closest station). Wireless in the room i want drops to about 440/35, will it be too drastic a difference?

You realize we use like 1MB normally to access stuff, 400+ is only used for downloading.  You can math that.

 

Is it too drastic a difference?  I am getting the feeling you may not understand how internet works.

 

Are you simply looking at max speed and basing everything on that?

[Killuasbtw]

9 minutes ago, manikyath said:

i wouldnt expect more than 100Mbps out of powerline, unless the adapters somehow got exponentially better in the last few years.

Thanks, i think im just gonna go wireless, thanks for the help!

[Killuasbtw]

Just now, Dedayog said:

You realize we use like 1MB normally to access stuff, 400+ is only used for downloading.  You can math that.

 

Is it too drastic a difference?  I am getting the feeling you may not understand how internet works.

 

Are you simply looking at max speed and basing everything on that?

I do not understand how internet works, that is why i am here?

 

[Dedayog]

7 minutes ago, Killuasbtw said:

I do not understand how internet works, that is why i am here?

 

No you started off asking if you can maintain speed with Powerline, which in no way assumes you dont know things.  It's a common powerline question.

 

The fact you are now very focused on max speeds is what triggers that question.  It's like buying a car solely based on top speed.

 

To use the internet, you need a sufficiently fast connection and reaction tme (called PING) to get to a website and download it's contect to view.  Also, to watch Youtube you need a stable constant speed to deliver the video to you.  

 

400MB/s is MANY MANY MANY times more than any connection needs for internet use.  It only comes into play with you are downloading a new game and how fast it can be done.  

 

You are firmly in the realm of fast internet and now now you'll take 30% more time to download a game, which I am assuming you don't do every day.  So a few more minutes or more.

 

It in no way will affect your web browsing, email, Youtube, Netflix, porn, etc.  Just downloads.

 

To prove this, go into Task Manager and see your wifi/ethernet usage speed as you browse this forum or watch Youtube.  I'm using 88 KB/sec to type this.   For a 1080p YT video I peak at 16MB/s to pull down chunks of it.

 

Ask anything else, here to help.