Are Powerline adapters good?

AfricanTech said:
I'm quite happy with mine - Trendnet something or other - bought a while back before I discovered the TP-Link range.

I have old house so I don't get great throughput BUT it's much better than wireless, so happy.
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I bought 2 Trendnet adaptors via Sybaritic. They come with a utility (that doesn't work as per the manual) and the manual is not only bad it has INCORRECT information in it which will stop the stupid things from working. And when you get them to work (took me 4 days of trial and error, mostly error) they occasionally stop working for some reason and have to be reinstalled.
BUT that is not the worst. They are SLOW and are badly affected by radio interference. I have found that 2 x 5w LED's in the circuit is the most you can have. 3 x 5w LEDs and the line drops. It took me a while to spot the connection between the two items. Next time I will go wired no matter how difficult it is. Wired Ethernet WORKS
 
Have the TP-Link TL-PA2010KIT (200Mbps) and I must say I'm pretty disappointed with the performance. Reliability is very good but file transfer speed is typically 2MBps whereas Wireless-N transfer to same location is in the order of 4MBps. The monitoring utility indicates link speed typically between 70-90mbps. This is over quite a short run <10m between floors. Anyone else have numbers to compare?
 
Spaj said:
... Anyone else have numbers to compare?
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I took Uniterm up on their recent 2 for 1 TL-PA4010 offer and these are achieving around 5MB/s over about 25m (not sure what length of internal house wiring is involved).

This is an improvement on the < 3MB/s I was getting via Wi-Fi but I don't think I would recommend them in a commercial environment as at normal retail pricing CAT5 network points would be more cost effective..
 
My speeds have also come down dramatically, from an initial 11MBps to about 6MBps. I must find out why because this is making Full HD movies stutter at times.
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one having issues with TP-link adapters.

Bought a pair of TP-LINK PA411 adapters roughly 2 months ago and they've become completely unreliable. When I installed them originally they seemed to work well (could stream HD content properly, remote desktop was flying etc.) but over the last 4 or 5 weeks the performance between the devices has become completely erratic. One day I'll get 27Mbps - 29Mbps between the devices (according to the TP-link utility) and then on another day it will be so slow (the remote device doesn't even show up on the utility) that it's basically unusable.

To be honest off the bat they seemed to work pretty well and for a couple of weeks I was very happy with them (could stream HD content between PC's no problem etc). Unfortunately over the last 3 or 4 weeks the devices seem to have become unstable because I'm struggling to maintain any kind of decent and usable throughput between the devices. It will randomly either be working or it will be so slow that it's basically unusable.

I've spent hours troubleshooting in an attempt to pinpoint the issue (resetting the adapters, re-pairing them, changing the ethernet cables, changing ADSL routers) but my efforts have been in vain so I can only assume that the adapters are the problem.

I don't know whether the devices are just plain rubbish or whether there's a lot of noise on my electrical circuits which is causing problems between the devices but I've PM'd kernel so hopefully he can advise.
 
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Mine has been working perfectly since I 1st installed them last year in December.
 
Just got the tp link 200mps kit had a couple of issues with plex.

First thing I did was update the firmware on them- btw the software does not work on windows 8.1. The only reason to install the software that comes with is to do the firmware upgrade.

Still had issues only with plex. Fixed the issue by specifying the sever ip on the plex client.

Read online another problem can be some surge protectors don't allow data through.

On the whole very happy with the purchase.
 
I'm looking to buy the TP-Link AV1200 3-Port Gigabit Powerline Adapter Kit: http://www.takealot.com/tp-link-av1200-3-port-gigabit-powerline-adapter-kit/PLID38533225

However, from all the images I can find with TP-Link powerline adapters, they are 2-prong plugs. However, everywhere says you must NOT plug them into adapters and they MUST plug straight into the wall. Our South African wall sockets are by default, 3-prong outlets.

How are we supposed to plug a 2-prong TP-Link powerline adapters into a 3-prong wall outlet without using a multi-plug adapter of sorts?
 
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dleerob said:
How are we supposed to plug a 2-prong TP-Link powerline adapters into a 3-prong wall outlet without using a multi-plug adapter of sorts?
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I'm using the type that plugs directly into the wall socket without experiencing problems, this or similar:

Adaptor.png

They definitely give hassles when used in a cabled multplug like this though:

Multplug.png
 
A normal 2 pin adapter also works fine. Using it that way on both my units.
 
Just to expand on my post, you can use a cabled multiplug together with an adaptor of the type I detailed but the powerline unit must be plugged into the wall adaptor. Routers, computers, printers etc can then be connected to the multiplug.
 
dleerob said:
I'm looking to buy the TP-Link AV1200 3-Port Gigabit Powerline Adapter Kit: http://www.takealot.com/tp-link-av1200-3-port-gigabit-powerline-adapter-kit/PLID38533225

However, from all the images I can find with TP-Link powerline adapters, they are 2-prong plugs. However, everywhere says you must NOT plug them into adapters and they MUST plug straight into the wall. Our South African wall sockets are by default, 3-prong outlets.

How are we supposed to plug a 2-prong TP-Link powerline adapters into a 3-prong wall outlet without using a multi-plug adapter of sorts?
Click to expand...
Please post your feedback when you install the AV1200s.
 
MickZA said:
Just to expand on my post, you can use a cabled multiplug together with an adaptor of the type I detailed but the powerline unit must be plugged into the wall adaptor. Routers, computers, printers etc can then be connected to the multiplug.
Click to expand...

Awesome, sounding good.
 
So do you need the multiple ports as there are much cheaper options for single Ethernet?

My experience the Gigabit delivers better than the Fast ethernet models but nowhere near 10x, more like 3x max. Get 40Mbps vs 120Mbps on my wiring so please every installation will differ.

My Fast Ethernet has been working on my Apple TV2 and XBMC (updated to Kodi 14.2) seamlessly for a couple years now. The Apple TV2 wireless did not cope with HD however have improved the wireless since then just never tested again as the PL works so well.

PS just moved to ATV3 and Plex but still miss Kodi 14.2...
 
Something like this, or this would have been perfect.
I contacted a few places, but no-one is willing to supply something like this for the local market.
 
Installed Powerline network this weekend at my place due to the fact that the area is now too satured with Wi-Fi networks to be productive with it.

Was pleasantly surprised with results. Never has the Internet been more responsive, and it truly feels like a 20Mb/s connection now. Was wondering why Youtube never wanted to play without buffering before.

It does take some experimenting however to get it right. I have to run an extension lead to another room's electrical outlet, because the one next to my computer is loaded with gear that interfere with the signal.

Powerline Network.jpg
 
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I am looking to do the same, but can anybody advise the actual speed difference between the AV1200 and AV500 powerline adaptors?

I am thinking that the actual speed of the AV1200 is going to be a bit higher .. based on CuppaJoe's image above, he is getting over 100mbps which is awesome, but would be interested in what the actual speed of the AV500 is in comparison.
 
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