Question Are powerline wifi extenders a thing of the past?

[iamgenius]

Hi, how is it going?

Okay I'll make this quick as I have to run somewhere. Everyone wants to cover his house with a good wifi signal. Wires will always be better than wireless of course, and that's why it is a good idea to utilize your already existing electrical circuits to make it seem as if you ran a cable from your main router to somewhere in your house and hook an access point from this new location. I have been doing this for the last 7 years with no problems whatsoever and it was working nice for me until 3 days ago when my lovely 3 ports TP-Link Passthrough powerline wifi extender died.

TL-WPA8630P KIT | AV1300 Gigabit Passthrough Powerline ac Wi-Fi Kit | TP-Link United Arab Emirates

Equipped with three gigabit Ethernet ports, the TL-WPA8630P KIT extends AC1350 dual-band WiFi and a gigabit network to every room via your home’s existing electrical wiring.

www.tp-link.com

This 2-Pack adapter has 3 1 gig ports in its 2nd device which lets you hardwire 3 access points and achieve good speeds (>150 Mbps). It was good and convenient. I had two access points connected to it and the third one went to a smart LG screen upstairs so I was utilizing the 3 ports. My natural reaction was just to buy another one of this
TL-WPA8630P kit and that's when I discovered Powerline wifi extenders are not that famous anymore. I couldn't find the TP-Link device in the local shops. Not only that, but I couldn't find other options with 3 ethernet ports. Not even online, there are not many options. I was hoping I will just get one from near local shops, install it, restore connectivity to my house and call it a day but it didn't happen. I can still get the thing online but I'll have to wait for it for one week before it arrives. When I was searching, it was all about Mesh wifi systems. That's why I'm now wandering if I should just stick to my old solution (At least proven) and wait a week and it will be worth the wait OR jump on the new technology and look into those whole home mesh wifi systems? Do they really work? Are they reliable?

Maybe it is time for the new technology? And that's why powerline networking is not so popular nowadays? Or is it because most houses now come with cat6 cables wiring (My house doesn't have cable runs)?

The way my house is setup and the placement of my main router will make it hard to place other devices in clear line of sight of the router.

I just thought I would ask.

Thanks in advanced.

 

[WelshBloke]

Devolo still make them. I use a few in my house as I have some 2 foot thick brick walls and that's not great for either WiFi or running cat cables.

 

[iamgenius]

Devolo still make them. I use a few in my house as I have some 2 foot thick brick walls and that's not great for either WiFi or running cat cables.

Hey thanks for your reply. I'm looking at devolo right now. I saw this brand before but never used it. But it seems they don't have an adapter with 3 LAN ports which can also work as a hotspot. Will consider them. Thanks again.

Edit: I see that they specialize in powerline networking. They may be the ones.

 

[JackMDS]

Juat make sure that you buy it from "Easy Return". Power line extenders are naturally affected by the Power Line quality in your domicile/ If the power lines is very "Electronically Dirty" the Network signal would be grossly affected.

The above is the reason to why Power line Network solutions where Never really "Celebrated".

 

[WelshBloke]

Juat make sure that you buy it from "Easy Return". Power line extenders are naturally affected by the Power Line quality in your domicile/ If the power lines is very "Electronically Dirty" the Network signal would be grossly affected.

The above is the reason to why Power line Network solutions where Never really "Celebrated".

Also it depends on the topography of your electricity wiring. There's two parts of my house that don't talk to each other well over powerline because there's a fusebox in the way.
They are great as part of a solution though.

 

[iamgenius]

Juat make sure that you buy it from "Easy Return". Power line extenders are naturally affected by the Power Line quality in your domicile/ If the power lines is very "Electronically Dirty" the Network signal would be grossly affected.

The above is the reason to why Power line Network solutions where Never really "Celebrated".

You mean so that I could return it if something goes wrong? I think my power lines are not that dirty since I was getting >100 Mbps from access points connected to a powerline adapter which is more than enough for portable devices (Iphones, ipads, laptops...etc). I see your point though.

 

[iamgenius]

Also it depends on the topography of your electricity wiring. There's two parts of my house that don't talk to each other well over powerline because there's a fusebox in the way.
They are great as part of a solution though.

You are right. In my house sockets in first floor will not talk to sockets in ground floor because they are connected to a different circuit breaker box.

 

[iamgenius]

I think this is the most suitable option for me from devolo:

Magic 2 WiFi next

Experience the best mesh Wi-Fi and Internet with the highest transfer rate. Discover the next generation of devolo Magic 2 WiFi Powerline adapters.

www.devolo.global

https://www.amazon.ae/devolo-Magic-2-2400-Wi-Fi-Next/dp/B089185YD7/ref=sr_1_2?crid=38NHWDNAWOGBH&keywords=devolo%2Bpowerline%2Bwifi%2B3%2Bport&qid=1669744178&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjEyIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=devolo%2Bpowerline%2Bwifi%2B3%2Bport%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-2&th=1

Unless you can convince me otherwise. I don't need WIFI 6. Of course I can still get my good old TP-link device which is much cheaper but what I like about the devolo is that you can always expand it by adding one more adapter. I also like their devolo magic 2 LAN DINrail by which you can convert every power socket to a potential network jack.

Magic 2 LAN DINrail

Distribute the Internet directly to any electrical socket right in the fuse box – and gain the benefit of powerful Internet everywhere.

www.devolo.global

Looks cool specially that I don't have cat5 wired in my house.

Anyone tried it here?

 

[iamgenius]

This is a quite new review:

Extend your home network with these great Powerline adapters

Speed up and extend your home internet with a Powerline network. Read our Powerline adapter reviews to find the right ones for you

www.techadvisor.com

And my good old TP-Link still wins! I'm surprised because it reached its end of life and you can hardly find it anywhere!

 

[iamgenius]

Just to report back............I ended up buying the TP-Link again for the lowest price I could find. Hopefully it will get to me in few days and I will get things wired again. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks for all the help.

TP-Link TL-WPA8631P KIT AV1300 Gigabit Passthrough Powerline ac Wi-Fi Kit UK | eBay

AV1300 Gigabit Passthrough Powerline ac Wi-Fi Kit. AV1300 Gigabit Passthrough Powerline ac Wi-Fi KIT 2 × 2 MIMO - Establishes multiple simultaneous connections for you to enjoy higher powerline speeds and greater stability.

www.ebay.com

 

[iamgenius]

After all the wait, the seller cancelled the order and refunded me the amount I paid saying that the item is out of stock although he has listed it under a different name in his for sale items. Not a very reliable seller! Now I have to buy again and hope the seller will really ship it this time . A very good powerline wifi extender that is hard to find anymore!

 

[iamgenius]

I'm looking at the devolo page again:

Magic Powerline

Experience fast and interference-free Internet and Wi-Fi at speeds up to 2,400 Mbps. Discover the Magic Powerline adapter from devolo!

www.devolo.global

My router doesn't support WIFI 6, but I can still use the WIFI 6 powerline extender because the signal will reach the adapter emitting the wifi signal via cable coming from my main router and from there I can utilize a wifi 6 link between this adapter and whatever modern device that supports wifi 6 , right?

I suppose there is a benefit for me then by going for the devolo Magic 2 WiFi 6 as opposed to the devolo Magic 2 WiFi next I considered earlier which uses WiFi 5.

 

[iamgenius]

Didn't want to keep looking for the TP-Link, so I went and bought the Devolo magic 2 wifi next:

https://www.amazon.ae/devolo-Magic-2-2400-Wi-Fi-Next/dp/B089185YD7/ref=sr_1_2?crid=38NHWDNAWOGBH&keywords=devolo%2Bpowerline%2Bwifi%2B3%2Bport&qid=1669744178&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjEyIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=devolo%2Bpowerline%2Bwifi%2B3%2Bport%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-2&th=1

I then found websites giving it bad reviews.

Devolo Magic 2 Wi-Fi Next review: Mesh network through your power lines

Powerline is neat, but stability issues and confusing, limited UI hold back the Devolo Magic 2 Wi-Fi Next.

www.pcworld.com

Anyways, I'll try it and see how it does. I think it will serve my purpose.

 

[aigomorla]

I would rather use the powerline to add a location for a wired dedicatred access point, then use the powerline in AP mode.

However if you can even just run a dedicated CAT6 to the a centralized location, with a good dedicated access point, it may even net greater results then having a powerline installed at a closer location.

And in regards to wifi 6, i do not think there is a powerline able to transmit in full 1gbe or even close to it, unless were talking next socket over as distance and wire quality will greatly impact the performance of a powerline.

Also i noticed if someone in the house runs a hair dryer on the same line, you might get disconnects from the spike / interference.

 

[iamgenius]

I would rather use the powerline to add a location for a wired dedicatred access point, then use the powerline in AP mode.

However if you can even just run a dedicated CAT6 to the a centralized location, with a good dedicated access point, it may even net greater results then having a powerline installed at a closer location.

And in regards to wifi 6, i do not think there is a powerline able to transmit in full 1gbe or even close to it, unless were talking next socket over as distance and wire quality will greatly impact the performance of a powerline.

Also i noticed if someone in the house runs a hair dryer on the same line, you might get disconnects from the spike / interference.

Regarding "I would rather use the powerline to add a location for a wired dedicated access point, then use the powerline in AP mode." That's what I have been doing with my old TP-Link TL-WPA8630P powerline adapters. I used it to extend my wired network to a different location (upstairs), and then connected a quality access point (Ubiquiti UniFi) to one of the lan ports on the powerline adapter. The wifi coming out of the powerline adapter is complementary and good to have but it is not the main reason for doing this. I have devices upstairs that can be wired. I also still need to run a cable from the powerline adapter to a far location and connect another access point to it. The wifi signal from the powerline adapter won't reach it.

Thanks for the tip though. It maybe different with devolo because each adapter you add will have 2 lan ports and wifi. Can't wait for it to come to see how it goes.

Yeah, wifi 6 is almost useless for me. It is not like I have a 10G wired network and a > 1Gbps internet connection.

Thanks for telling me about the hair dryer. I have some at my house. I will now restrict their use