Hardware Zyxel PLA4211 500mbps Powerline Adaptor review

[brumgrunt]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/net...line-adaptor/1

[barrkel]

You're far better off investing in a roll of cat5e, some crimps, a box of RJ45 plugs and some cable clips, and extend the reach of your gigabit switch. (You have one of those, right?)

In practice, I never see better than 100MB/sec sustained file transfer over my home network, but it's a reliable and consistent 100MB/sec. Vs powerline, it's the difference between copying a few videos in seconds vs minutes; something you can do while standing up and waiting for it to finish, vs having to go off and make a cup of tea and come back later. Powerline networking isn't worth it outside of niche scenarios that make direct cabling hard. The couple of hours you spend putting down cable, you make back tenfold in the first year (if you actually use the network).

[ZeDestructor]

Originally Posted by barrkel

You're far better off investing in a roll of cat5e, some crimps, a box of RJ45 plugs and some cable clips, and extend the reach of your gigabit switch. (You have one of those, right?)

In practice, I never see better than 100MB/sec sustained file transfer over my home network, but it's a reliable and consistent 100MB/sec. Vs powerline, it's the difference between copying a few videos in seconds vs minutes; something you can do while standing up and waiting for it to finish, vs having to go off and make a cup of tea and come back later. Powerline networking isn't worth it outside of niche scenarios that make direct cabling hard. The couple of hours you spend putting down cable, you make back tenfold in the first year (if you actually use the network).

Pretty much my thoughts. Hell, if you route your cabling properly, you don't even need to wire it properly: I have 30m of CAT6 and 25m of CAT5e running along my staircase and upstairs hallway. No tripped people at all so far.

[Parge]

Originally Posted by barrkel

You're far better off investing in a roll of cat5e, some crimps, a box of RJ45 plugs and some cable clips, and extend the reach of your gigabit switch. (You have one of those, right?)

In practice, I never see better than 100MB/sec sustained file transfer over my home network, but it's a reliable and consistent 100MB/sec. Vs powerline, it's the difference between copying a few videos in seconds vs minutes; something you can do while standing up and waiting for it to finish, vs having to go off and make a cup of tea and come back later. Powerline networking isn't worth it outside of niche scenarios that make direct cabling hard. The couple of hours you spend putting down cable, you make back tenfold in the first year (if you actually use the network).

"powerline networking isn't worth it outside of niche scenarios that make direct cabling hard."

Niche?

What about people that rent their homes?
What about people that haven’t got the tools for DIY cable installation?
What about the people that haven’t got the skills for DIY cable installation?
What about people who want a cheap, reliable, and easy to install solution?
What about the people for whom powerline is enough – even on my 200mpbs powerline kit, I can stream 1080p flawlessly.

Oh, yep, that’s about 90% of the population covered. But no, you’re absolutely right, totally niche. Do you know what actually IS niche? Cabling your entire home with CAT5.

[Combatus]

Running cables by whatever means is clearly the best solution in terms of speed, but I have to agree with Parge for the simple reason I live in a rented property. I can't even put picture hooks up never mind 30M of CAT5 Also, the Mrs would have a fit if she came home to find it traipsed halfway across the house, even if it was neatly done Powerline will sort me till I own my own place and can install CAT5 behind the walls. The speeds I get are enough to deal with up to 100Mbit broadband - I'm only on Virgin 60Mbit so I have plenty of headroom with my Devolo 500Mbps set. I just hope that next gen adaptors give a healthy speed boost.

[bdigital]

Powerlines have been a life saver in my flat. Managed to get broadband to an obscure room that wifi woupdnt reaxh and keep my renter happy

[Phalanx]

Can anyone recommend a set of high speed powerline plugs, as I need 3 for a home network but it seems every review I read has serious issues of one type or another. The plugs will be used to connect up a HTPC for using Skype at a decent (HD) level. Any suggestions?

[tyepye]

Been using powerline adapters for about 4 years now and have never had any problems. The one's I currently use are just a generic 200mpbs pass-through kit I got from Ebuyer.

Speeds good, and expanding the network is as easy as just buying another plug and syncing it up. No hassle with running cables &/or drilling it get it to where I need it.

I've even got my GF's parents & brother using a set now so they can use Sky catchup as the wifi in their house just isn't up to speed.

[law99]

Originally Posted by Parge

"powerline networking isn't worth it outside of niche scenarios that make direct cabling hard."

Niche?

What about people that rent their homes?
What about people that haven’t got the tools for DIY cable installation?
What about the people that haven’t got the skills for DIY cable installation?
What about people who want a cheap, reliable, and easy to install solution?
What about the people for whom powerline is enough – even on my 200mpbs powerline kit, I can stream 1080p flawlessly.

Oh, yep, that’s about 90% of the population covered. But no, you’re absolutely right, totally niche. Do you know what actually IS niche? Cabling your entire home with CAT5.

Got to agree with you there.

However, I still think people are mad not to do it. Tools don't cost much and you don't have to be a genius to do it. White cable, some of those nail tidy things, a hammer, some ethernet ends and a crimp tool.

And if you ask around, you are bound to know someone who works in an office... and the IT guy there, unless a complete "jobs-worth", isn't going to complain about you borrowing some cat5 for an afternoon. Hell, mine didn't mind that I forgot to bring the whole roll back entirely.

[CrapBag]

I have 5 powerline adaptors and yeh I'd much rather have the pc's hard wired but running cables down skirting boards is just plain ugly.

It would have to to go to four different rooms, through doorways and across carpets, not practical at all.

If I was copying a file to another location and it took a couple of minutes instead of seconds, so be it, I'm sure I have the patience for that .

[Krikkit]

Originally Posted by law99

Got to agree with you there.

However, I still think people are mad not to do it. Tools don't cost much and you don't have to be a genius to do it. White cable, some of those nail tidy things, a hammer, some ethernet ends and a crimp tool.

And if you ask around, you are bound to know someone who works in an office... and the IT guy there, unless a complete "jobs-worth", isn't going to complain about you borrowing some cat5 for an afternoon. Hell, mine didn't mind that I forgot to bring the whole roll back entirely.

It might not be that hard, but personally I find it to be a bit of an eyesore in a nice place, having CAT5 stapled to the wall/stairs etc... Don't get me wrong, if I decorated I'd have it all run behind the walls/skirting, but otherwise it's wireless and homeplugs please.

[rollo]

Facts are this

Most use basic Wifi and would bulk at paying £50 + for this technology.

This is a niche because your catering to the 10% who want this over cables.

Because 1080p Can be streamed over wireless just as easily as it can on a 200mbs powerline adaptor.

Cheap solution beats reliable as far as most is concerned, Most people with bt internet use there Shocking bt router and would not notice the difference if you installed a real router they just see it as cost.

Powerline has its usage in rented housing where Wifi is not viable. Outside of that if you must have speed cabling is cheaper,easier and alot faster.

Powerline suffers in old housing as we have had it before and we struggled to get 2mb/sec on a vid file ( Wifi goes faster) If your house has not had the wiring done in 20years+ ( basically 90% of all houses in england) then the speed you get will tank. 1 pc was upstairs 1 pc was downstairs in that test. Over wifi we were getting 4mb/sec.

Great for you guys in your offices but take it home to your homes and rerun the tests your speed will drop because of dodgy wiring that was never designed to take this sort of idea.

England is not exactly the country of new build housing.

[bdigital]

Lol. Trust me my house is old and the homeplugs are much faster than wifi. For the £30 they cost me its well worth not having moaning flat mates!!

[Parge]

Originally Posted by rollo

Facts are this

Most use basic Wifi and would bulk at paying £50 + for this technology.

This is a niche because your catering to the 10% who want this over cables.

Because 1080p Can be streamed over wireless just as easily as it can on a 200mbs powerline adaptor.

Cheap solution beats reliable as far as most is concerned, Most people with bt internet use there Shocking bt router and would not notice the difference if you installed a real router they just see it as cost.

Powerline has its usage in rented housing where Wifi is not viable. Outside of that if you must have speed cabling is cheaper,easier and alot faster.

Powerline suffers in old housing as we have had it before and we struggled to get 2mb/sec on a vid file ( Wifi goes faster) If your house has not had the wiring done in 20years+ ( basically 90% of all houses in england) then the speed you get will tank. 1 pc was upstairs 1 pc was downstairs in that test. Over wifi we were getting 4mb/sec.

Great for you guys in your offices but take it home to your homes and rerun the tests your speed will drop because of dodgy wiring that was never designed to take this sort of idea.

England is not exactly the country of new build housing.

Not facts. In fact, the total opposite of facts - your personal experience.

I know literally dozens of people using homeplug, some that I recommended some that I didn't. A quick browse of hotukdeals or amazon reviews will show you how popular these are.

Also - " If your house has not had the wiring done in 20years+ ( basically 90% of all houses in england) then the speed you get will tank. "

- not true. My house has the original wiring from when it was built (1972, 40+ years ago) and I get over 6mb a sec on 200mpbs homeplugs, and this is whilst using one of them on a ganged adaptor which is supposed to slow your transfer rate. I paid £20 for two of these (though I later bought another 4 because they were so good)

You may have got 4mb a second over wifi - and only 2mb on homeplug but it provides a far more stable connection than wifi, which is essential for playing any multiplayer games, where ping etc is important.

[goldstar0011]

Out of everyone in my life I know and met other than me and my dad no one has ever wired in CAT5 cable and if anyone had the idea wouldn't really know how to. If wifi doesn't cover it most have used powerline plugs.

They're always for sale on shopping channels, online and even my mate who owns a PC shop uses them for quick setups on call outs.

I think the Niche market is those of us who cable our houses

[Phalanx]

So, who's going to recommend me a powerline plug brand/type?

[Parge]

I use a mix of TP link and On Networks 200mbps adaptors. They both use the same powerline standard so work together straight off the bat.

If you just want a stable connection, and the ability to stream anything up to and including 1080p, then they can be had here for just £23

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=439254368791

Or the if you want, the TP Link ones here for £27

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TP-LINK-TL...item1e7639c327

[CrapBag]

Originally Posted by Parge

I use a mix of TP link and On Networks 200mbps adaptors. They both use the same powerline standard so work together straight off the bat.

If you just want a stable connection, and the ability to stream anything up to and including 1080p, then they can be had here for just £23

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=439254368791

Or the if you want, the TP Link ones here for £27

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TP-LINK-TL...item1e7639c327

Would the data encryption button work with my existing Netgear adaptors I have bought?

I have four older 85mbps adaptors that I would like to upgrade and the ones you mention are £5 a pair cheaper than the netgear ones.

[ZeDestructor]

Originally Posted by Parge

"powerline networking isn't worth it outside of niche scenarios that make direct cabling hard."

Niche?

What about people that rent their homes?
What about people that haven’t got the tools for DIY cable installation?
What about the people that haven’t got the skills for DIY cable installation?
What about people who want a cheap, reliable, and easy to install solution?
What about the people for whom powerline is enough – even on my 200mpbs powerline kit, I can stream 1080p flawlessly.

Oh, yep, that’s about 90% of the population covered. But no, you’re absolutely right, totally niche. Do you know what actually IS niche? Cabling your entire home with CAT5.

Originally Posted by Combatus

Running cables by whatever means is clearly the best solution in terms of speed, but I have to agree with Parge for the simple reason I live in a rented property. I can't even put picture hooks up never mind 30M of CAT5 Also, the Mrs would have a fit if she came home to find it traipsed halfway across the house, even if it was neatly done Powerline will sort me till I own my own place and can install CAT5 behind the walls. The speeds I get are enough to deal with up to 100Mbit broadband - I'm only on Virgin 60Mbit so I have plenty of headroom with my Devolo 500Mbps set. I just hope that next gen adaptors give a healthy speed boost.

Originally Posted by CrapBag

I have 5 powerline adaptors and yeh I'd much rather have the pc's hard wired but running cables down skirting boards is just plain ugly.

It would have to to go to four different rooms, through doorways and across carpets, not practical at all.

If I was copying a file to another location and it took a couple of minutes instead of seconds, so be it, I'm sure I have the patience for that .

I live in a rented place, cables safely kept VERY near walls/ceilings (for stairs). Then again, none of us mind the cables (including my housemate's gf) if it means good internet access everywhere over 4 routers (vyatta box main, 3 wifi APs, 1 8port gigabit switch)

[Parge]

Originally Posted by CrapBag

Would the data encryption button work with my existing Netgear adaptors I have bought?

I have four older 85mbps adaptors that I would like to upgrade and the ones you mention are £5 a pair cheaper than the netgear ones.

It is my understanding that these would be on a different standard, and therefore wouldn't work at all with your 85mpbs adaptors.