powerline adapter advice needed please

dezz99

Hi, im looking to buy some powerline adapters for the devices i have downstairs that arent getting a great wifi speed from the router (located upstairs)

I want to get the fastest ones and i have read that the new standard is AV2 with a gigabit port. My BT HOME HUB5 router has ports all capable of gigabit speed.

But i cant work out if my computer/network card is capable of gigabit speed as well. How can i find this out please?

Does anybody have any knowledge/experience of these powerline adapters please?

DevCoder

Are you really going to be transferring files on your internal network often enough to warrant the need for gigabit?

If you right click on the network adaptor in device manager, choose properties and then advanced you should see a "speed and duplex" option, when you highlight this what is available in the dropdown to the right?

dezz99

krisdorey wrote: »

Are you really going to be transferring files on your internal network often enough to warrant the need for gigabit?

If you right click on the network adaptor in device manager, choose properties and then advanced you should see a "speed and duplex" option, when you highlight this what is available in the dropdown to the right?

Thanks

I went to the properties and it says "auto negotiation" but there is a drop down box and there is a speed that says 1.0 Gbps full duplex

So does this mean my pc is also capable of the faster speeds?

I wont be transfering loads of files but my thinking was why would i go for the slower powerline adapters if the newer ones are capable of higher speeds. Because in the future more devices would be gigabit speed capable?

I have read elsewhere that the new standard is AV2 and most of the cheaper powerline adapters are older and have no way of carrying the speed they advertise...that was my thinking for just paying the extra and getting the best ones. Is that incorrect?

DevCoder

Well it depends, from outside your internal network you are only going to get the speed of your actual connection and whilst gigabit fibre is available (well here anyway) its not a normal connection for the average home user, so if you had 50mb internet connection then a 100mb powerline adaptor will be more than ample.

Regarding the internal network then obviously gigabit would be better for file transfers etc, for the future really only devices that require gigabit speeds will incorporate the chipset.

If the price difference is small then you might as well go gigabit, I use the TPLINK AV500 which seem fairly good.

Note that the powerline standard and your wiring will affect the speed that you actually get when doing EoP.

Regarding your NIC, what is the description of the interface in device manager?

RumRat

Not really a money saver, but I got these..http://www.devolo.com/en/Products/dLAN-650-triple+/
They work very well and exceed anything, speed wise, that I require right now. I guess I just like being a bit ahead of the curve occasionally.

getmore4less

http://www.hotukdeals.com/search?action=search&keywords=powerline

plenty of 500mb powerline 100mb ethernet which will do most things fast enough at round £25 a pair.

if you want gigabit these came up recently £60 4 port gigabit.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/zyxel-500mbps-powerline-4-port-gigabit-adapter-reduced-from-58-49-29-98-3-58-delivery-1846641

4 ports so save the need for a switch/hub/router to connect multiple devices.

getmore4less

Remember that 100mb ethernet is 200mb full duplex and if going to more than 2 nodes on the powerline network having 500mb powerline will give some headroom over the cheaper 200mb ones.

You also have to include network and encyption overheads so can max out a pair of 200mb powerlines.

Gratis

RumRat wrote: »

Not really a money saver, but I got these..http://www.devolo.com/en/Products/dLAN-650-triple+/
They work very well and exceed anything, speed wise, that I require right now. I guess I just like being a bit ahead of the curve occasionally.

This Devolo pair, moreover, adds wi-fi (dual band, 802.11b/g/n, at that) to the triple 650AV Ethernet LAN on the distant unit, making it pretty much the ultimate solution at the moment.

Make sure you buy them from the UK site, with British and not Euro plugs, though!

krisdorey wrote: »

Well it depends, from outside your internal network you are only going to get the speed of your actual connection and whilst gigabit fibre is available (well here anyway) its not a normal connection for the average home user, so if you had 50mb internet connection then a 100mb powerline adaptor will be more than ample.

Regarding the internal network then obviously gigabit would be better for file transfers etc, for the future really only devices that require gigabit speeds will incorporate the chipset.

If the price difference is small then you might as well go gigabit, I use the TPLINK AV500 which seem fairly good.

Note that the powerline standard and your wiring will affect the speed that you actually get when doing EoP.

Regarding your NIC, what is the description of the interface in device manager?

Nevertheless, all Macs have been supplied with 10/100/1000 Ethernet for at least the last twelve years and I’m writing this on a seven-year-old MacBook Pro that came with dual-band, 802.11b/g/n as standard.

Even those with only Windows kit, currently, might want to add Macs, iPhones, iPods and iPads to their network(s) in the future. So, when investing in Powerline adaptors it’s worth buying ones that support their features.

We’re always shifting large files around our Gigabit network.

We use a Cat5e Ethernet cable, installed almost invisibly, to connect Gigabit switches on each floor of the property and plug (Apple) wireless routers (in bridge mode) into those.

To reach the kitchen, across a stone floor, we use a Powerline adaptor setup.

It all interacts seamlessly. :dance:

dezz99

krisdorey wrote: »

Well it depends, from outside your internal network you are only going to get the speed of your actual connection and whilst gigabit fibre is available (well here anyway) its not a normal connection for the average home user, so if you had 50mb internet connection then a 100mb powerline adaptor will be more than ample.

Regarding the internal network then obviously gigabit would be better for file transfers etc, for the future really only devices that require gigabit speeds will incorporate the chipset.

If the price difference is small then you might as well go gigabit, I use the TPLINK AV500 which seem fairly good.

Note that the powerline standard and your wiring will affect the speed that you actually get when doing EoP.

Regarding your NIC, what is the description of the interface in device manager?

Thanks

i have a fibre optic connection which runs at about 60 mbps but i would need possibly 5 devices connected to the power line adapters (2 sky boxes, laptop, pc and playstation) so if i got 100 mbps powerline adapters would all those devices be an overload? Meaning i would need the 500 mbps ones anyway?

Not sure what you mean regarding the NIC, under network adapters it says: realtek RTL 8168D(P)/8111D PCI-E gigabit ethernet (nic)

Is that what you were asking?

DevCoder

802.11n was standardised by IEEE in 2009 the draft was 2007.

Although I agree with your post, currently have an iMac late 2012, two mac air's and two ipad's (along with a couple of windows laptops which I only tolerate because of coding I do). So have 1GB fibre, then gigabit cisco managed switch with the mac's / windows machines connecting wirelessly or via hardwired for the imac/NAS as this is the only machine which really needs the throughput. That's where Im using TPLink (that and to connect the sky+box to the router).

Need to add structured cabling to my house soon, ripping up 3 floors so will probably flood wire CAT7, will probably change the managed switch to a managed PoE switch.

Anyways, way off tangent now, for the sake of the difference the OP might as well go gigabit unless they are strapped for cash and wont fully utilise gigabit.

dezz99

getmore4less wrote: »

Remember that 100mb ethernet is 200mb full duplex and if going to more than 2 nodes on the powerline network having 500mb powerline will give some headroom over the cheaper 200mb ones.

You also have to include network and encyption overheads so can max out a pair of 200mb powerlines.

Thanks

So i guess with 5 devices at once i would be better off going for 500 mbps ones?