Powerline speed ratings are exaggerated just like wifi speeds. And to a certain extent are similar to wifi in having to deal with noise or other issues on the power system, so there's no guarantee of speeds.
The one guarantee is that the newest powerlines are faster and more reliable than older models.
In my daughter's room, I had problem having a constant/reliable speed. My Netgear Powerline is a little old, I also tought that newer equipment would be better, so I decided to buy a new Powerline kit (TP-Link), but got the same non reliability.
Just for the fun of it, I decided to do some comparative testing. Here is the test setup.
I did the tests in 2 different rooms close to my daughter's room and in her room, altogether 3 different places.
All the rooms are one wall away from her's. However one has a difference, the outlet is protected by a GFCI because it is a bathroom.
When the tests are done, I am alone in the house, so no other users on the net.
For all the speed tests I used
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
With my Internet provider, I have 10Mb/1,5Mb
In each room, I did 6 consecutive tests with one device, went down to change the adapter that goes in the router, plugged the corresponding wifi access point in the tested room in the same outlet and did 6 more tests.
Here are the results, I'll let you decode the results :
Tests results | Her room | Her room | Room next to it | Room next to it | Bathroom on the other side of the wall (GFCI) | |
| TP | NG | TP | NG | TP | NG |
Test 1 | 9 | 10,5 | 4,4 | 6,3 | 6,9 | 10,9 |
Test 2 | 7,3 | 9,3 | 3,2 | 3 | 8,2 | 10,5 |
Test 3 | 4,4 | 8,7 | 4,6 | 2,5 | 7 | 11,1 |
Test 4 | 5,3 | 8,2 | 3,8 | 4,8 | 8,1 | 10,7 |
Test 5 | 4,6 | 5,3 | 2,9 | 8,3 | 9,6 | 10,5 |
Test 6 | 2,8 | 4,3 | 4,5 | 3,9 | 7,1 | 10,6 |
Average | 5,6 | 7,7 | 3,9 | 4,8 | 7,8 | 10,7 |
| | | | | | |
TP = | Brand new TP-Link 300Mbps WIFI range extender AV600 TL-WPA4220 | | | | | |
NG = | Older Netgear Powerline 500 Wifi AV500 XWNB5201 | | | | | |
I am returning the TP-Link to the store and keeping the NG installed in the bathroom.