How does powerline work

[Honaaa]

Hello there, i have recently been looking into other way to connect to my router because I am basically using another router as an access point and wiring ethernet into my pc that way because running a cable 50 meters or so is not something I want to do.

And I came across powerline as a solution but I do not know how it will work and I am kinda worried it might mess up other devices connected into the plug or other plugs or burn my house down, I don't know if these worries are reasonable but I'm no electrician so I Don't know. Also I am in Czechia with 230V plugs.

So my question basically is, How does it work, How correct is the "1GB/s" on powerline product pages, and if it's more reliable than Wi-Fi because when I play tf2 or anything my internet basically goes out for 2 seconds.

[StephanTW]

How it works in easy terms is that it sends data kinda like a FM radio would do through the electric lines in your house, and thus by using frequency modulation encode your connectivity through it.
A side note on this however is that this works better if both powerline connectors are on the same breaker circuit, it will still work on different circuits but it will be hampered a bit.
The 1gb/s is like all marketing material take it with a pinch of salt, i used to have a powerline setup and it worked fine with my 100/30 connection with reasonable ping.
as for consistency I fear its mostly with how well the wiring in your house is but should be more stable than wifi .

And NO this will not burn down your house as its small W usage and the only real thing that can catch fire is the powerline plug itself which is as common as any other electrical equipment piece.

Hope this helps

[randy123]

It won't burn your house down.

as for performance in my setup, it is pretty good. I sadly only have a 100/100 speed from my crappy American ISP, but though powerline it does not change at all so I lose no performance.

[Poinkachu]

21 minutes ago, Honaaa said:

Hello there, i have recently been looking into other way to connect to my router because I am basically using another router as an access point and wiring ethernet into my pc that way because running a cable 50 meters or so is not something I want to do.

And I came across powerline as a solution but I do not know how it will work and I am kinda worried it might mess up other devices connected into the plug or other plugs or burn my house down, I don't know if these worries are reasonable but I'm no electrician so I Don't know. Also I am in Czechia with 230V plugs.

So my question basically is, How does it work, How correct is the "1GB/s" on powerline product pages, and if it's more reliable than Wi-Fi because when I play tf2 or anything my internet basically goes out for 2 seconds.

IIRC for Powerline, the performance quite depends on your house's wiring & cables quality as well.

[cmndr]

Ethernet > MOCA/DECA > well done Wi-Fi (think hard-wired wireless access point nearby without obstacles in the way) > powerline > poorly done Wi-Fi.

 

Quote

How correct is the "1GB/s" on powerline product pages,

It's more of a lie than a truth.

 

If you're able to do MOCA give that a try. Similar idea as powerline but it uses coax cables and tends to be FAR less janky. 

MoCA in many cases can consistently do close to 2.5Gbps. The cheaper/older kits often get reasonably close to 1Gbs. The super cheap DECA adapters (note: can't share the wire with other services) will consistently do full 100MBps.