Which Powerline adapter?

[CaptainKirk]

We've got a Sony Bravia HDTV and want to connect it via ethernet to our wi fi network.

I've heard powerline adapters are best suited for this as the signal is usually more continuous.

However, I've also heard that some powerline adapters are not very good if your main router

is more than two rooms away. As I live in a fairly big house (the router is on the first floor and

the TV is on the ground floor), I would be grateful if someone could recomend a powerline

adapter suited for this situation. Thankyou.

 

[Andy Clough]

I use Belkin 200Mbps Powerline adapters, one connected to the router on the top (third) floor of the house, and one on the gound floor, and it works a treat. No transmission problems at all. Cost about £70 a pair on Amazon. Clickety.

 

[Anonymous]

Avoid Powerline ethernet if at all possible - anywhere in your house - it will reak havock with your ac mains. You can get wifi receivers instead:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WA701ND-150Mbps-Wireless-Access/dp/B002YETVVE/

 

[Anonymous]

Got to disagree with Pete's post above oke: - I've had Solwise plugs (much cheaper than competitors) for 4 months now and not one electrical issue at all. There was no set up whatsoever and they worked straight from the point of plugging one into my router and another one in my living room. My living room one has 3 ethernet ports which is great because I have it hooked up to the av amp, TV and blu ray player. The speed increase from our wifi was like night and day - at a rough estimate, I'd say it was 8-10 times faster. We've bought ours mainly to be NAS ready in the future so we can stream movies in HD quality but the apps TV, etc are also working flawlessly (previously, with wifi nothing worked).

 

[Anonymous]

Got to disagree with Pete's post above oke: - I've had Solwise plugs (much cheaper than competitors) for 4 months now and not one electrical issue at all.

I think you misunderstand, and I was not clear on the matter. What I mean is the quality of AC mains for audiophile equipment, not any kind of system/mains fault as such. One of the reasons people use mains conditioners from companies like Isotek, PS Audio or PurePower, is to get rid of poor AC which is full of interference and spikes from things like fridges, washing machines and other things further down the mains. Of course, many people don't believe in this stuff at all, or don't have the kind of audio equipment to be able to discern it. But when I use my PurePower 2000 instead of the mains directly, it is a HUGE difference. Anyway, if you don't have a mains regenerator, and you use Powerline to transmit data by modifying the AC, then this will have a detrimental effect on audio (and video to a degree)

 

[Anonymous]

Ah...all clear now. Don't power my Cyrus using any electrical mains wiring to stream cause of the current (excuse the pun) quality of mainstream mp3. Looking like this may change in the future at some point though if enough people demand the quality.

 

[def lugs]

I stopped using my powerline adaptor, due to an audible clicking that came from my subwoofer during data transmission. The subwoofer was connected to the same ring main as the powerline adaptor, but at the other side of the room.

 

[davejberry]

Devolo 200Mbps AV series work well for me.

 

[CaptainKirk]

Thanks everyone for your help.

In the end, I did a little research and considered your advise and options before deciding what I considered suitable - and economical - for our setup. I went for a D-Link pass through 200mbps adapter (there is currently a free extra adapter promo for this until the end of Sept):

http://www.ebuyer.com/265723-d-link-200mbps-powerline-pass-through-twin-pack-free-extra-adapter-dhp-p307av-b

So far I've got good performance from it, although it's still early days LOL.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry Peter but that is total rubbish.

In the old analogue days I would 100% agree with you but with Powerline Carrier (PLC) the condition of the mains has absolutely no bearing on the audio quality at all.

The power line (mains) is simply used to pass network data packets which are encoded with network datagrams containing packetised data across the electricity cables in your home. These encapsulated network datagrams contain CRC checksums to ensure the data (a set of zeros and ones) is captured and received without corruption. The chip in the PLC units called a DAC (Digital to Audio Converter) converts the received data set into audio. Even if the mains was horribly corrupt with spikes it would NOT affect the data quality or the resultant audio passed over the mains. All it would do is cause the data badwidth to reduce although it would unlikely never be as low as a radio based transmission network such as WiFi, whcih would be using the same noisy mains to power it and it would likely suffer transmission blackouts. This is because the PLC units will need to continuously retransmit the data until a CRC verifid packet is received. If the mains was clear then it would likely never have to retransmit. But in essence, raw audio is NOT transmitted across the mains, only encoded digital data containing the coded audio which is guaranteed to be received as it was transmitted no matter the mains quality.

PLC is a very effective method of transmitting network IP traffic across relatively short distance using the existing power cables in your home. Because it is wired, you will get much better reception and throughput than using WiFi or bluetooth or any other radio based network transmission system.

 

[nopiano]

Hi BS, and welcome to this place!

An interesting post, but I think you may have misunderstood Pete (unless it's me!). His point is that powerline devices mess up the AC mains which in turn can cause unwanted affects on conventional audio kit like amps and CD players.

This is an increasing issue with so many chargers, PCs, and 'wall warts' generally in households these days, not to mention old favourites like central heating, flourescent lights and fridges.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi there, sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was just wondering about the above comments regarding interference on the AC mains that might affect audio and video kit. I'm interested in getting some powerline adapters to enhance my online gaming due to poor wifi within my house. However, I was wondering if you can use these and then somehow "shield" av devices from the disruption on the ac mains? Perhaps with someting like a surge protector or the like?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[AnotherJoe]

Powerline uses TCP/IP so you dont need to worry about interference. It is just as reliable as fast ethernet, although with lower throughput.

The latest powerline spec is the AV2-500 but as with wireless N forget the headline figure, in the real world you may expect to get up around 100Mb/s throughput.