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Powerline - Ethernet Of Power?

ViviTheMage

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Has anyone used this stuff before? I'd like to get ethernet in my bedroom without running cat5, and this looks like a great alternative, IF this works properly.

I plan to hook it up to my xbox 360, any advice?

I saw this specific one for the 360 :
XETB10GM-100NAS

otherwise this one is more multi-purpose, would this work for my 360? and maybe other stuff down the road if I need to reuse it? Or just get the 360 one? :

XAV2001-100NAS

Are there other companies who make these things? I just plan to extend my media center to it, stream HD movies/TV. Wireless N cannot keep up.
 
I've personally never tried either of the units you mention, but I do use the Linksys PLK300 kit. It works great. I noticed about 3-5ms of latency going through the adapters, but that's negligible to me. I still get pretty much the full speed of my internet through them, which is 7Mb download Time Warner Cable.

You don't need units specifically made for xBox. I have my 360 hooked up to the PLE300 on the main floor (the PLE300 has 4 10/100 ethernet ports), router is upstairs going into the PLS300, and I can stream Netflix with full green bars in HD just fine. Gaming is perfectly fine too.

The trick is to make sure the powerline adapters are plugged into wall sockets that are fed from the same side of your breaker panel. I've heard that if you connect through wall outlets that aren't connected through the same breaker panel side, the speed is degraded significantly, but I've not tested that myself. If wiring in your place is really old, that may effect performance as well, you'll just need to test it and see how it does.
 
I've used Powerline adapters in the past - they're much much better than wifi - you don't get the drop-outs with them.

Proper ethernet is preferable for high speed (i.e. moving files over a network), but I've been hard pressed to tell any difference for just sharing an internet connection.
 
What powerline device did you use? What model? How do you use it? All I want to do is stream from my media center PC.

My wireless N router is about 20 feet from the 360, and only one wall in the way.
 
I just installed 2 Belkin Gig ethernet powerline adapters to connect my mac mini (htpc) to my nas. I stream HD without a problem, did some quick testing and I get around 100 Mbit
 
Also,

Be aware that the further the two adapters are from one another, the more likely the performance will degrade.
 
ViviTheMage said:
So I bought a NETGEAR Powerline AV+ 200 Adapter Kit XAVB2501

It functions just as good as my 10/100...hooked up my laptop and it can pull 12MB/s~ off my server, pretty awesome.

I love in an old, browstone, condo complex with 12 units too, these things are pretty awesome! I am surprised how well it worked.
Click to expand...

When they work they are pretty cool. I find they hate electrically noisy devices though so like a microwave running will knock them off for a few.
 
Rakewell said:
Also,

Be aware that the further the two adapters are from one another, the more likely the performance will degrade.
Click to expand...
And, it depends on what else is on the circuit, and don't try to use them through a surge protector either.

BTW, "further" means in terms of the circuit. You could be in a different room but on the same circuit and therefore would effectively be relatively "close. Or you could be in the same room on a completely different circuit with all sorts of noisy crap on that circuit.

Yeah, I agree it's often much better than wireless (esp. in terms of lag), but YMMV, esp. if you want to stream HD. I found on good days it worked great, but on bad days HD streaming can be a problem.

I use the Netgear Powerline HD stuff, but it's comparable to the Powerline AV stuff. I would recommend the latter because even though the AV stuff and HD stuff are the same speed, the AV stuff is an officially recognized standard. The HD stuff is a proprietary standard, so there is no interoperability across brands. I have never tried the so-called Gigabit stuff.


ViviTheMage said:
I should test that...I never run my microwave.

they are on separate breakers, so I wouldn't assume it'd be an issue?
Click to expand...
Dunno but I have run Powerline HD from my home office, through my main breaker, which is connected to a daughter breaker on the other side of the house, which in turn connects my home theatre room. So, connected through two intervening breakers. It worked but sometimes was flaky for HD streaming. ie. Usually I could get 30+ Mbps out of it, but once in a while it drops below 5 Mbps (microwave or air conditioner or something?). For internet surfing it was perfectly fine though, and much more reliable than 802.11g for stuff like gaming.

BTW, that 5-30 Mbps was on just one outlet in the room (a newer one). I tried it with another plug in the room (which was an older separate circuit), and I was getting more like 5-15 Mbps.
 
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i think you also have to consider the lack of warranty on connected gear. if everything is connected via ethernet you have potential leakage if a direct strike hits that circuit.

since they guarantee your equipment for $0 - that's about the quality of surge supression they will give you- ethernet is not friendly to foreign voltage spikes.
 
So, for these kits, would people recommend them over 802.11n if gaming is the biggest concern?

I basically want to at least reach the 10+mbps of the internet connection, and being able to stream video to my PS3 would be great, or to a laptop (using my laptop in the house is somewhat rare, typically rather use my pc). I still have 54g in the house right now, been putting quite a bit of effort into researching 802.11n routers and receivers... and if anything, I definitely want to at least reach 30-50mbps if possible. But of a greater concern is latency.

If on different circuits, what kind of latency should I expect with the latest batch of powerline units? Would it have a lower latency than the more expensive 802.11n routers (Linksys e3000, Netgear WNDR3700)? That's the biggest concern, I want to prevent lag during gaming.
 
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