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Best Budget HomePlugs?

macman
macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
edited 30 October 2010 pm31 8:08PM in Techie Stuff
I'm looking to source a pair of 85Mbps HomePlugs for a friend with a persistently flaky wireless connection on his PC. Found these on Amazon, which look OK and are within his budget of around £40.
Does anyone have any experience of these, or suggest an alternative?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Solwise-85Mbps-Homeplug-Adapter-Twin/dp/B002XL6IUU/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1288468803&sr=1-1
No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
«1

Comments

  • boxst
    boxst Posts: 454 Forumite
    I have used Solwise before and they are good -- and that price is good as well.

    Steve
  • John_Gray
    John_Gray Posts: 5,831 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 31 October 2010 am31 9:31AM
    I use the same model, and am entirely happy with them!

    PS all Homeplugs have the same chipset in them, and manufacturers just put their own shell on top. (Or at least this used to be the case!)
  • boxst
    boxst Posts: 454 Forumite
    John_Gray wrote: »
    PS all Homeplugs have the same chipset in them, and manufacturers just put their own shell on top. (Or at least this used to be the case!)

    Not quite true and remember that the 85mbs are not compatible with the 200mbs.

    Steve
  • TonyMMM
    TonyMMM Posts: 3,415 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I have 2 pairs of these, running perfectly for about the last 12 months ....never dropped a connection ... speed is usually about 80mb ...drops slightly if you use them in multi-socket adaptors, but only to about 65-70mb

    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150039
  • John_Gray
    John_Gray Posts: 5,831 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    boxst wrote: »
    Not quite true and remember that the 85mbs are not compatible with the 200mbs.
    I should have said "Homeplugs of the same speed..."!
  • I've had several brands of 85Mbps ones and they all came with the same software leading me too to believe they are all essentially the same. Incidentally I am a licensed radio amateur and none of the ones I tried caused problems in the amateur bands but the same cannot be said of other shortwave frequencies.

    Syncing at 85Mbps doesn't mean they deliver that as throughput. My own measurements agree with several tests I found online - just over 30Mbps is about par for the course.

    As mentioned the 200Mbps ones (which still have a 100Mbps ethernet port) are not compatible with the 85s and presumably neither are with the newer gigabit (hohoho) ones.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    The Powerline Networking versions are compatible across the different speeds (i use a pair of D-Link 200Mbps ones). However this is a budget purchase, and the PN ones tend to be a bit more expensive than HomePlug ones.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • poppy10_2
    poppy10_2 Posts: 6,583 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    What kind of lag to Homeplugs introduce? I've always been interested in them but heard they are no use for gaming as they introduce too much latency.
    poppy10
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I was going to order the Solwise pair, but a slight hitch has arisen on viewing the location. The only possible socket that the plug can go into (near the router) is a surface mounted double that's been mounted right at floor level on a skirting board, no room to accomodate the drop on the device from the mains pin, or even room to plug in the ethernet cable. Will I be OK to use these on a trailing extension socket instead? I know that it may degrade the speed a bit-that doesn't matter, as long as there is a stable connection.
    Alternatively, does anyone know of a Homeplug which doesn't require a deep drop (or one that projects up from the pins, not down)?
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • TonyMMM
    TonyMMM Posts: 3,415 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I have used a couple of mine in trailing extensions ....no problem at all (other than about a 10% drop in speed).
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