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Thread: What do you guys know about ethernet powerline adapters?

  1. #1
    Junior Potato
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    What do you guys know about ethernet powerline adapters?

    I'm looking at buying a pair of powerline adapters so that I can get a good wired connection from the stupidly-placed internet hole to where my gear is actually set up, instead of going wifi for everything like I currently am.

    Something like this, after a quick browse just now:
    https://www.umart.com.au/TP-Link-TL-...it_36066G.html

    It's got a top-end speed rating and has two ports, so that's pretty convenient.

    My router has four ports for wired connections. Say I wanted to connect more devices, I would have to buy another pair of course. But would that be possible? Would they interfere with each other, since there's already a signal being passed through the electrical cabling?

    Another thing I'd like to know about, is what sort of data I can send over this device. My home internet is set up exactly like the configuration below:



    The internet is delivered into my home via a coaxial cable. This is connected to the little black box, which then sends data via an ethernet cable (blue) to the router. My router then does all the internety connecty bits for the devices. The powerline adapters are obviously designed to act as a carrier for data that comes from the yellow plugs on the router.

    Could I use it to carry the data for the blue cable instead? That way I could have the black box at the wall outlet and my router at a much more convenient location. Please tell me this is possible.

  2. #2
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    I'll start by saying I don't know much about powerline adapters. It looks like it says it supports 2gbps, but that each port on it can do 1gbps. If you're connecting it between the cable modem and the router, that means you're limited to 1gbps coming into the router. You may also want to look into whether it introduces any latency - not a big problem for streaming, but can cause bigger problems with gaming.

    If it is truly just passing data through (which it sounds like it is), there's no technical reason it wouldn't work being setup the way you describe. The 1gpbs limitation probably isn't much of an issue either because that's likely still higher than what's coming in through the coax, so it wouldn't be the bottleneck there. I'd really look into latency, see what other people have run into in actual use.

  3. #3
    Junior Potato
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    That’s a good point regarding latency. I’ll look into it. Bear in mind I’m on WiFi for everything so I wonder if even a small amount is still better than wireless.

    And yeah the internet here tops out at 45-50 Mbps so no problem there with another 950Mb of headroom. It means I could go down in budget and buy a lower-speed one, but then I’m limited to a single port as the slower cheaper ones don’t have multiple ports.

  4. #4
    Senior Member
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    https://www.ricksdailytips.com/conne...via-powerline/

    I have 4 powerline adapters but they now all fail to connect to each other. When they worked, they were fine, although I never tested latency.

  5. #5
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    I ran a Dlink DHP701 kit for a few years on my Xbox.
    Never had an issue until I tried to add some older model DHP309s I had previously used, to get my PC on Ethernet as well.
    Seems they didn't like working together and the fine print for the 701s made mention of this, oh well.
    I could still max out my NBN100 speed using them, so there was no speed issues.

  6. #6
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    So in some situations they work really well, in others they work horrendously (stories of single digit mbps between each one). What you need to make sure is that both the sockets you plan on using are on the same electrical circuit. In the UK we call them the same ring main. Check your fuse box or circuit breaker. If you have ever had an extension built, part of the house rewired or your upstairs and downstairs electrical sockets are on different breakers or fuses then you may be **** out of luck on getting them to work well. If they are on the same circuit then you may be in luck. Be aware though, if you have an amateur radio enthusiast in the area they will hate you. They put out quite a bit of interference on certain wavelengths.

    Also, make sure to Encrypt them and change the default password or encryption. I've heard stories of people getting access to other peoples networks because they share powerline adaptors with their neighbours via the mains wiring coming in off the street!

    Oh and don't plug them into extensions, straight into the wall socket, and don't use any circuit protectors on them either, they need 'unfettered' access.

  7. #7
    Junior Potato
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    I just bought a pair. This one: https://www.umart.com.au/TP-Link-TL-...it_38984G.html

    Aaaaaand I've got two circuits in my house. The one where the cable comes in is different to the one where my AV and PC gear sits.

    But luckily I have a long-arse CAT5 cable and another powerpoint in the loungeroom that's close enough to reach. The cable runs along the wall with my rear surround speaker cable. A hassle, but not much

    I did a speed test and everything checks out. I'm happy with it, just need to test it when playing games like GT Sport.

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