wireless vs tp link adapter ???

[contagieu]

Hey guys. I'm just wondering if wireless should give me a better connection compared to my tp-link 500mbps nano powerline adapter.

I'm with virgin media and have a 160mbps download speed. On wired connected from my pc directly to my router, it is 160mbps. But my router is far away from where my computer is based.

I can pick up a wireless connection though which gives me around 50-60mbps. But this connection isn't stable and often gives me lag spikes i.e. disconnected, higher ping.
So i bought a tp-link 500mbps nano powerline adapter; thinking it would maybe give me a higher download speed compared to wireless and a more stable connection. The connection is stable with no disconnecting whatsoever, but my download speed peaks at around 20mbps. Is there any reason for this and is there anything i can do to improve the download speed whilst using my tp-link adapter?

 

[bill001g]

You have done a perfect example of describing the difference between using a wireless and powerline when you are at a distance. Wireless tends to be faster but powerline is more stable.

Powerline is just a radio signal that travels over the house wiring. The speed you get like wireless is extremely dependent on your house. Also like wireless you get no where near the speed ratings. Not a lot you can do it is not like you can change the electrical wires in the house to get a shorter path.

They do make a newer model of of powerline devices that claim 600m. This is similar to say going from 802.11g to 802.11n in wireless. What they have done is change the way the data is encoded to put more data into the signal. In theory at the same signal levels you should get more data though. The flaw in this theory just like going from 802.11g to 802.11n is that when you have poor signal and you are only getting 1% of the speed you will still only get 1% of the new speed so the increase may not be significant.