Do I need an expensive powerline adapter? Is a cheap one good enough?

[Sparktown]

I'm thinking about buying a powerline adapter to use on my PC. Currently, it uses a PCI wireless card to connect to the house's wifi network.

I have Verizon FIOS fiber optic, which is very fast. However, there are a lot of walls between the room with the PC and the room with the main router (approx little over 20m away, same floor).

I actually can't get a signal off the main network and had to set up a wireless extender box. Even then, I only get about 30%-40% signal on the extended network, which translates into around 1 - 3 msbp download. It often cuts out and has trouble with streaming video.

I'm considering trying a powerline adapter. I see some starter kits for $30 on Amazon, but I notice that many newer powerline adapters with the AV2 standard are much more expensive (up to $100).

I'm not really looking to spend a lot of money (approx $50 or less), since I may not keep this computer in the same room for much longer. I also think my goals are pretty modest. I would mainly like to be able to easily stream video (Lyndia.com, Hulu, Youtube, etc).

My question is: How expensive of a powerline adapter do I really need for my seemingly modest goals?

The powerline adapter doesn't need to provide wifi, it just needs to a cable connection to fit in the back of my PC. Two connections would be nice so I could use it with my laptop, but one connection is also just fine.

I'm ideally looking for a powerline setup that is compatible with both Windows and Debian Linux OS (Linux Mint / Ubuntu) and could support me using a VPN.

On a side note: Could my PC be the biggest problem? It's an old Intel Pentium 4 2.6 Ghz. That being said, streaming services don't seem to max out the CPU.

 

[blazorthon]

Toms recently did a small review of some powerline network adapters, check it out. I think you'll find that you do get what you pay for, at least with the models they tested. I can't say for sure that there are no other models around that are fast like the almost $100 TPlink but cheaper; I don't use these enough to be familiar with particular models.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/homeplug-av2-powerline-networking-adapters,4218.html

Just for streaming, I don't think a pentium 4 2.6GHz CPU is an issue assuming you mean that CPU is for the computer acting as a server. Technically, the CPU probably wouldn't be an issue even if you were watching the video on a computer with it so long as the graphics is decent and not Intel's old integrated GMA crap.

 

[Alabalcho]

PowerLine adapters are built for different speeds (eg 100mbps, 300mnbps, etc), but their performance depends mainly on your house' power circuits. If your house is newer, and your room is on the same circuit as the router' circuit, and there are not too many noisy appliances on that circuit (fridge, washer, garbage disposal), you will get reliable results.

Generally, these adapters don't need any software support (unless there's some managing utility, and it is usually Windows-only).

In order to see whether your PC is the culprit - move it next to the router, connect with Ethernet cable, and see how it performs.

 

[Sparktown]

This is all good info, but I really want to know if it's worth paying for a more expensive power line adapter or if a cheaper one will be more than enough for my needs.

For example: Should I get a $55 TP-LINK TL-PA6010KIT AV600 that is AV2 and has a gigabyte connection (My motherboard is pretty old, so I think it only supports ethernet, but I don't know a lot about cables) or would a $37 TP-LINK TL-PA4010KIT AV500 Nano which is not AV2 and only ethernet be more than enough for my needs.

 

[TelcoAmericana]

If your electrical wiring is okay, you could go cheaper and gamble. I can tell you from experience that the TP-Link nano series works okay on prestine electrical wiring, but with noisy devices, it loses sync quite often. After a few times we just stopped buying TP-Link home plugs. In those situations we were able to replace with Zyxel $55 pair on amazon and the connection would remain solid. I prefer Zyxel for stability, they are in more market areas that require 24/7 reliability of their products such as IPTV. And they have a built in filter with additional outlet.

 

[Brandon LCW]

It depends on your internet speed. Where I live, its 35USD a month for a 1Gbps plan. So its a necessity to use a gigabit powerline such as the tplink 1200mbps.

If your internet speed is 500mbps or less, buy an AV2 600Mbps. Any brand will do. Above 500, a gigabit one like the tplink 1200.

 

[bill001g]

It depends on your internet speed. Where I live, its 35USD a month for a 1Gbps plan. So its a necessity to use a gigabit powerline such as the tplink 1200mbps.

If your internet speed is 500mbps or less, buy an AV2 600Mbps. Any brand will do. Above 500, a gigabit one like the tplink 1200.

Your comment in general is correct but it is obvious you have not used or never looked the test results from these devices. Even the very top of the line device will get nowhere near a gig and many times not even 500m and that is on artificial test cases. In real world the so called 1200mbps devices run in the 200m range.

You should not parrot marketing hype on forums.

 

[Brandon LCW]

I wasn't parroting marketing hype, prick.
If it was able to get 1200Mbps, everyone would get it.

I know the increments from going 600 to 1200 is minimal, 30-50mbps roughly, but its still in increase. What I meant was if you have a 1Gbps net, and wanna make the most it, get the one with the higher speed

 

[bill001g]

I wasn't parroting marketing hype, prick.
If it was able to get 1200Mbps, everyone would get it.

I know the increments from going 600 to 1200 is minimal, 30-50mbps roughly, but its still in increase. What I meant was if you have a 1Gbps net, and wanna make the most it, get the one with the higher speed

But you clearly said.
"If your internet speed is 500mbps or less, buy an AV2 600Mbps"
If you ACTUALLY knew the performance numbers you would know that even the 1200mbs ones will not support 500m so recommending to use the 600mbs ones is not a valid.

You can call all the names you like but you should not commend on on topics you do not have actual knowledge on.

 

[Brandon LCW]

Cause ypu do not need the more than that? Don't be daft dude.

If its 500, then is there any benefit going 1200? Welll 10-20 more mbps but its hardly worth the cash.

Well, pompous pricks like you ruin the forum. We are all here to help and learn, not get an earful from some condescending individual.

 

[bill001g]

Cause ypu do not need the more than that? Don't be daft dude.

If its 500, then is there any benefit going 1200? Welll 10-20 more mbps but its hardly worth the cash.

Well, pompous pricks like you ruin the forum. We are all here to help and learn, not get an earful from some condescending individual.

But it is YOU that said you should spend the money if you had a gig connection. You seem to think that small amount was worth the cash in that case but not in the 500m case. From a performance standpoint they are exactly the same.

Looking back at your post I think it was more so you could brag that you had a 1g internet connection and now you are trying to cover for posting incorrect information.

 

[Brandon LCW]

Sure boy, sure. If it was incorrect in your eyes, say it nicely. You were so condescending and arrogant about it. I wonder if its this forum's people or what? 3 days into this forum, the most pompous and arrogant person shows up. How welcoming, how hospitable.

I just said that my country offers 1Gbps connection at a low price, how is that bragging? Dude, I merely used it as an example. You need to learn to read properly.

If you felt that you needed to voice your views, go ahead, don't start picking on people, even if you disagreed.

 

[bill001g]

Sure boy, sure. If it was incorrect in your eyes, say it nicely. You were so condescending and arrogant about it. I wonder if its this forum's people or what? 3 days into this forum, the most pompous and arrogant person shows up. How welcoming, how hospitable.

I just said that my country offers 1Gbps connection at a low price, how is that bragging? Dude, I merely used it as an example. You need to learn to read properly.

If you felt that you needed to voice your views, go ahead, don't start picking on people, even if you disagreed.

This is a technical forum not some opinion based forum. When you post information that is not correct it makes things much worse than if you had said nothing. The disagreement is purely on your recommendation that 500m is the break point to lower cost unit. If you have some new test results that show that I would be happy to admit I am wrong.

 

[Brandon LCW]

If you so felt I was wrong, sure, by all means, correct me. Yet you were all rude about it.

Now, I'm going to test my 1Gbps connection with my Sineoji 1800mbps Goodbye.

 

[Klaatu68]

I purchased the TP-Link AV500 Powerline Starter kit for $28. I am extending my Apple Extreme wireless router to another Airport Express on the second floor on the other end of the house. My Comcast provided link speed ant the main router is 75 Mbps. If I test the link speed at the remote Powerline extended router I routinely see speeds at 40 Mbps. Thats fast enough for me. I tried a number of wireless extender options and the best speed was 20 Mbps.

The connection is rock solid with the TP-Link, I have had the units in olace for about a month.