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Which homeplugs to buy

DCFC79
DCFC79 Posts: 40,641 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
edited 1 May 2009 at 8:18PM in Techie Stuff
Im after some homeplugs but not sure which ones to buy, are netgear ones any good, not looking at spending alot on a pair, maybe £60/£70, theres 200mbps and 85 mbps so obviously the 200 mpbs are faster but do i need ones that fast.
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Comments

  • frivolous_fay
    frivolous_fay Posts: 13,302 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    We use Netgear, and they've been pretty reliable... they've already done the product recall for the component that used to overheat and melt, so the new ones are probably pretty good :D
    My TV is broken! :cry:
    Edit: refunded £515 for TV 1.5 years out of warranty - thank you Sale of Goods Act! :j
  • aliEnRIK
    aliEnRIK Posts: 17,741 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Buy SOLWISE

    Theyre the best known, they are apparantly the only ones that dont 'infect' the mains when theyre off and I have some myself which run very well indeed

    EBAY are good
    :idea:
  • dazed
    dazed Posts: 881 Forumite
    I have a few of the Solwise ones in my house and I got them from www.wirelesspro.co.uk great service and VERY knowledgable staff. They do the communications for the farnborough international airshow so if it is good enough for them then I will take their word for it lol.

    Just had a look and the direct link to the homeplugs is:

    http://www.wirelesspro.co.uk/department/homeplug_networking/

    HTH
    Man who stands on toilet is high on pot. - Old chinese proverb.
  • i8change
    i8change Posts: 423 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    I have been using the Devolo High Speed ones for nearly 2 years now. They are very reliable (I have heard of problems with the Netgear ones) and you just plug them in and switch on, no messing around at all! They are German designed and look good quality. Think I saw a boxed pair for £69 in Currys Digital last week so they might be available at that price elsewhere.
    I have had no signs of problems with any sensitive electrical products connected to the same circuit (PVR's, Digibox's etc.).
    Good place for Devolo and Solwise reviews is Amazon.
  • damo24
    damo24 Posts: 299 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I wouldn't bother going for the 200mbps. The chances are your computer and router are only 100mbps so getting any faster than that is just a waste of money.

    I've used the Peak set (comes as a twin pack) and they are excellent. Most local independent computer shops should stock them.
  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    damo24 wrote: »
    I wouldn't bother going for the 200mbps. The chances are your computer and router are only 100mbps so getting any faster than that is just a waste of money.
    I would stick with the 85Mbps ones myself but don't run away with the idea that 85Mbps ones run at 85Mbps and 200Mbps ones at 200Mbps - the magic numbers no doubt relate to something but it isn't throughput any more than 54Mbps WiFi runs at 54Mbps.

    I have tried end to end throughput measurements ..

    54Mbps WiFi manages ~ 22Mbps max
    85Mbps Homeplug ~ 33Mbps max

    I haven't measured 200Mbps Homeplugs but they certainly won't exceed 100Mbps.

    You can't mix 85Mbps and 200Mbps as they use a different standard.
  • dazed
    dazed Posts: 881 Forumite
    kwikbreaks wrote: »
    I would stick with the 85Mbps ones myself but don't run away with the idea that 85Mbps ones run at 85Mbps and 200Mbps ones at 200Mbps - the magic numbers no doubt relate to something but it isn't throughput any more than 54Mbps WiFi runs at 54Mbps.

    I have tried end to end throughput measurements ..

    54Mbps WiFi manages ~ 22Mbps max
    85Mbps Homeplug ~ 33Mbps max

    I haven't measured 200Mbps Homeplugs but they certainly won't exceed 100Mbps.

    You can't mix 85Mbps and 200Mbps as they use a different standard.

    All good advice. One thing to remember though is if you have 802.11n Wi-Fi the max speed is 300Mbps but the tcp throughput will be more like 130Mbps max.
    Man who stands on toilet is high on pot. - Old chinese proverb.
  • Duk
    Duk Posts: 117 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    I use Zyxel and they are fantastic, Easy to setup and since i installed them (3 or 4 months ago) i dont think i have seen them since until now, never had a problem.
  • John_Gray
    John_Gray Posts: 5,845 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    damo24 wrote: »
    I wouldn't bother going for the 200mbps. The chances are your computer and router are only 100mbps so getting any faster than that is just a waste of money.
    Have you ever measured the speed these homeplugs actually achieve? Try dividing the figure by about 4 or 5 to give "real world" throughput - more if you have noisy mains. They are excellent devices, but please don't assume you will achieve these maximum possible figures!

    (Incidentally, I was told by someone at Broadband Buyer a couple of years ago that all the (85 Mbps) homeplugs were made in the same factory, and just the casings were customised for each 'manufacturer'!) I've used a pair of these for the last two years without the slightest problem.
  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    John_Gray wrote: »
    (Incidentally, I was told by someone at Broadband Buyer a couple of years ago that all the (85 Mbps) homeplugs were made in the same factory, and just the casings were customised for each 'manufacturer'!) I've used a pair of these for the last two years without the slightest problem.
    This is quite possible. I've used Homeplug kit from several suppliers and the same utility software is supplied with them all.
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