EntropySink

Technical & Scientific => Hardware => Topic started by: ober on October 14, 2013, 08:33:00 PM

Title: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on October 14, 2013, 08:33:00 PM
So I looked into this a while back and I'm going to give it a whirl. 

http://www.actiontec.com/265.html

Since I gave my wife my old desktop, I just got a wireless adapter to use with it.  It works but it's slow as fuck for whatever reason.  So I figured I'd give these a try and see how it goes.  If it delivers as promised, I will be happy and she will be too.  And if it works as well as I hope, I'm going to get a third adapter for the Tivo to stream Netflix and stuff.  By the way, I found them for like $42 on Amazon.

I will post reviews.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: KnuckleBuckett on October 15, 2013, 06:40:10 AM
Get it through Amazon so you can return it if it blows.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on October 15, 2013, 12:12:38 PM
I did.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on October 19, 2013, 03:02:11 PM
A-mazing!!  Took more time to unwrap than to plug in. So simple and so easy. Her computer is down a floor and on the other side of the house. I used speedtest.net after connecting them and her computer now gets the same speed as mine upstairs connected directly to the router.

I will say that the light color on the device shows you the connection speed and it indicates that the speed is the middle tier which is still 50-99 Mbps. Not sure where in that range but it is obviously more than fast enough to get 16+ Mbps from the internet connection.

I'm absolutely thrilled and will be getting one to connect the TiVo as well.

Fuck wireless. That is all.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: KnuckleBuckett on October 19, 2013, 04:04:18 PM
What if say you wanted to add another port somewhere else in the house?
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on October 19, 2013, 06:51:12 PM
From what I understand you just get another adapter.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on October 26, 2013, 03:23:27 PM
So I would hold off for a bit if you haven't bought these.  My wife's computer is the one that is on the device and she says the internet connection drops sometimes.  Or the indicator on the computer will say that the connection is limited.  We haven't had to unplug and plug in again.  It appears to reconnect itself.  I will investigate further and let you know. 
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: KnuckleBuckett on October 26, 2013, 11:08:59 PM
 :(
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: kermi3 on October 27, 2013, 10:28:31 AM
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: Betazep on October 28, 2013, 04:57:04 PM
ipconfig /mail$200tobeta
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on October 29, 2013, 12:46:21 PM
So I think I may have figured it out.  IPV6 was enabled on the ethernet connection in the computer and that was showing as 'no internet'.  I unchecked that in the settings but I haven't asked my wife if she has seen it since.  She also said it has happened regularly since she got this computer (pre-powerline connectors).  I will update as I test some more.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: Betazep on October 29, 2013, 03:52:03 PM
Would be good if it wasn't the powerline.  I actually think I might want to use that.  We have two locations that I have CAT5 wired to, but I want to move the computer to another wall in our family room... and it is far away from the drop.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on October 29, 2013, 04:18:19 PM
Yeah, I had actually bought some CAT5 but never got around to running it partially for that reason.  This was SO much easier.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: KnuckleBuckett on October 29, 2013, 08:11:26 PM
If it works.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on January 21, 2014, 02:24:09 PM
So a review a few months later.  Seems to be working pretty damn good.  We had issues with the internet dropping but I had TWC come out and they swapped the modem which hopefully was the issue.  The connection on the units never dropped when the internet wasn't working so I don't think it was those.

So yeah, I'd recommend these.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: KnuckleBuckett on May 28, 2015, 11:48:17 AM
Bringing this beast back to life.....


Tom's Hardware Article (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/network-switch-guide,4047.html)
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on November 14, 2016, 10:19:26 AM
So... bringing this back to life.  I abandoned the powerline adapters a while ago.  I don't know that it was a problem with them directly and I have reason to believe that the outlets in use between my upstairs office and my wife's office downstairs were on 2 different legs of power coming into the house.  And that switching between the 2 caused pretty consistent drops in internet access.

So fast forward to last week and my wife has been complaining about the internet on her computer again... constantly slow, constantly dropping out completely.  I had her on a highly rated USB adapter that did ok but I know that I've been sitting 10 feet from her on my work laptop and I didn't notice the same drops as her.  So I decided to try a new adapter.  This time, I decided to go internal:

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-PCI-Express-Archer-T6E/dp/B016K0896K/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1479136628&sr=8-12&keywords=tp-link+ac1200

Got it on Saturday and she was working a lot yesterday and said it was much better.  Consistent speeds, no drops.  It was reporting only 62% signal but it called that 'excellent'.  I'm going to try and move things around to see if I can increase it, but frankly it's working so well I don't know that it is necessary.  Speedtest showed roughly equivalent numbers to my hardwired PC upstairs so the signal strength must not be affecting it.
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: KnuckleBuckett on November 15, 2016, 06:12:29 AM
Good luck!
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: KnuckleBuckett on November 15, 2016, 05:29:40 PM
http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/15/13640492/google-wifi-preorder-amazon-mesh-router-best-buy-walmart
Title: Re: Powerline networking
Post by: ober on November 16, 2016, 09:30:36 AM
Interesting, but I don't think that's the issue.