Confused!!

[RexHam]

Hi...please excuse my ignorance on the following, but I've literally just stumbled my way through what I know so far! I'm hoping one of you more expert people can help me out here!

First off,to understand my layout a bit better, see the pic below...

http://img105.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=400595113_house3_122_199lo.jpg


I've been slowly archiving each and every one of my BluRay's and DVD's over the last few weeks, (over to mkv files) to view on our 50inch TV in the living room via DNLA (and Homeplugs!)

As my PC is situated in a part of the house that was once an internal garage (that was converted by the previous owner into an office),I've found that the only Homeplugs that can connect - and STAY connected - are Devolo's...I'm led to believe that this is probably because the 'PC Room' is on a different ring main to the rest of the house - I'd tried Solwise and Netgear homeplugs that would initially connect...but within a few secs, drop-out...then re-connect etc etc....

It was only when I read somewhere the Devolo's were the best for crossing different ring mains that I tried them, and found that they did actually stay connected.

However....(there's always one isn't there?) Even though I'm using 200AV-Plus units, the connection between the Homeplug in the PC Room and the one next to the TV is (according to Devolo's Cockpit software) only about 80mbit/s (at best...sometimes it drops to 50mbits/s) As a result, when playing 1080P mkv's, I often suffer from a lot of 'buffering'

Therefore, to get the highest speed between the 2 points, I'd like to run some cat5e cable around the house to the TV position in the living room. The total run is 'at most' 20m, so shouldn't suffer any loss (from what I've read)

I've bought a TP-Link 5 port Gigabit switch already - and out of curiosity more than anything, I tried plugging in the Homeplug in the PC Room + the cable from my PC into it to see...(naively) - if it would make a difference - it didn't, obviously

I've tried searching locally to see if someone with networking nous can help but came up with a blank, so it's down to me by the looks...

Can someone please give me some guidance on what to do to achieve what i want?

Many thanks in advance if you can help.....

 

[RealBeast]

There is nothing that you can do to speed up the Homeplug devices and your experience is the norm -- the fastest ones 200-500Mbps rated all run 50-80Mbps, not enough for full HD streaming.

CAT5e will work up to 100m so that distance is no problem and it will allow a transfer up to around 820-850Mbps, more than enough for HD streaming. If you don't have the tools to crimp on connectors to make a cable, buy one that is plenty long since the performance will not suffer. Here is an example from one US supplier that I use (a 100ft./30m for $12) http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10208#1020813

Just connect it from your router LAN port to your TV, or to the switch if you want other connections in that room and could not return the switch.

 

[noidea_77]

Well, for testing purpose you can use an extension cable from the "home ring" to the "office" to see if the Devolo's get better. WiFi might work as well on the short distance.

 

[RealBeast]

Well, for testing purpose you can use an extension cable from the "home ring" to the "office" to see if the Devolo's get better. WiFi might work as well on the short distance.

I've tested a dozen different 200-500Mbps homeplug sets and none has gotten over 80Mbps 6 feet apart on the same circuit that has nothing else attached and is 12 gauge copper wire. They are great for low bandwidth stuff like placing a WAP is a dead zone for phones to connect, but they just aren't there yet for full HD streaming.

I too tried wireless, a number of 300-450Mbps models with matching adapters (N only WPA2 AES) and they work, but not consistently due to interference. I'm looking forward to 802.11ac when it's fully baked in a year or so. In the meantime for streaming full HD nothing compares to a CAT5e cable if you can run it without tearing the whole house down.

 

[noidea_77]

I've tested a dozen different 200-500Mbps homeplug sets and none has gotten over 80Mbps 6 feet apart on the same circuit that has nothing else attached and is 12 gauge copper wire. They are great for low bandwidth stuff like placing a WAP is a dead zone for phones to connect, but they just aren't there yet for full HD streaming.

I too tried wireless, a number of 300-450Mbps models with matching adapters (N only WPA2 AES) and they work, but not consistently due to interference. I'm looking forward to 802.11ac when it's fully baked in a year or so. In the meantime for streaming full HD nothing compares to a CAT5e cable if you can run it without tearing the whole house down.

I payed €1000 to get two ethernet ports in every room of my rented flat, but missed the one in the bathroom for video streaming. My little 19"-rack in the storeroom is nice though

 

[RealBeast]

I payed €1000 to get two ethernet ports in every room of my rented flat, but missed the one in the bathroom for video streaming. My little 19"-rack in the storeroom is nice though

Ouch, that hurts. I finally caved and did it myself, which took forever to finish since I work on the road and getting cable to the second story was painful, lots of drywall repair. I do love having it in now though. Hope you had a Merry Christmas, and have a Happy New Year!

 

[wacabletech]

You can either hire an electrician and have him rewire your house so the outlets you need to use for data are on a single breaker [sounds expensive? It will be]. run your own cat5e network between the points from router to room [you would either need a crawl space below each room or a way to run them to the attic and back down in each room, or run to outside walls and staple on outside of house] or if there is coax not being used, you could grab a moco to Ethernet converter set for each run, but they are about $200/set last I looked making running your own cat5e outlets the most reliable and cheapest route to go you just have to be patient with putting the ends on right.

The last option get a wireless network setup.

 

[RexHam]

Hi all...OP here again, sorry for the delay in getting back to this thread. but it's been a hectic last couple of days ...hope you all had a nice Xmas

Thanks for the suggestions. A couple of points I think I should have added....

My existing router is a rather ancient DG834G, so the wireless option is out for HD streaming (only 54G). Also on this router, the lan ports are only rated as 10/100...but as I mentioned, I do have a TP-link Gigabit 5 Port unmanaged switch now.

As my PC is the main hub for the other devices in the house, with all my media stuff (as well as movies) being shared such as pics, music and docs, I need to have a router involved in the equation - with regards to the HD movies though, the only point I want to service with these, is the main TV in the living room.

So (correct me if I'm on the wrong track here...) what I was thinking of doing was, instead of going straight outside from my PC to the living room TV with the cat5e cable, was to put the Gigabit switch underneath my old DG834G router, run an ethernet cable from my PC into the Gigabit switch (PC ethernet is Gigabit-capable) then run the cat5e outside from the switch and around the house and back in at the TV point. My Homeplugs would also run into the switch with a link out of the switch and into the router, that way the devices in the house would still be able to see all the other stuff on my PC and still have internet access due to the link into the router/modem.(phew!)

Is that right? I've made an image of what I'm thinking of doing (see link below)

http://img138.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=615287990_routerswitchsetup_122_335lo.jpg

Thanks again....

 

[noidea_77]

That should work! As long as you don't have it already, i recommend static ip adresse for this setup (10.0.0.XXX). The router is you standard gateway and DNS. That speeds up the boot process. An Excel list helps to keep track of the ip-computer relation.

 

[RexHam]

That should work! As long as you don't have it already, i recommend static ip adresse for this setup (10.0.0.XXX). The router is you standard gateway and DNS. That speeds up the boot process. An Excel list helps to keep track of the ip-computer relation.

Hi noidea_77. I do already have fixed IP addresses for the devices on my network...why do you say "As long as you don't have it already...."? My current IP Address Range is 192.1680.XXX on the Netgear.

Thanks for the tip on keeping an Excel list too...good idea!