Mains networking again.

dudwell · Nov 14, 2010, 12:02:55

In my occasional role of IT consultant (!) on behalf of my daughter I'm suggesting a pair of home plugs as an improvement to her (slightly less than perfect) wireless network in a thick-walled Edwardian house.

At present she's on ADSL2 but fibre has appeared in her street and she might take up the option. Would fibre broadband influence the choice of home plugs?

Rik · Nov 14, 2010, 12:10:40

I'm not aware of any home plugs which reach fibre speeds as yet. An ethernet cable might be your best route.

Glenn · Nov 14, 2010, 12:16:29

Steve has tried 1Gbs plugs I believe, but had poor results with them, I currently use 200mbs plugs with no problems.

dudwell · Nov 14, 2010, 13:32:51

Thanks Rik and Glenn. An ethernet cable could be a bit tricky and/or unsightly. With YouTube and iPlayer as the most demanding applications, no internet gaming, the 200mbps plugs seem worth trying. If they don't work no doubt they can go back.

Steve · Nov 14, 2010, 14:00:09

I can't recommend the 1Gb home plug although I did receive a warranty replacement but not had chance to re evaluate especially since wireless N is working so well at the moment

mrapoc · Nov 14, 2010, 14:34:08

What speed will the fibre be?

I should say 200mbps home plugs would be fine

Altho I do get occasional lag spikes on mine while game, possibly down to poor electrical wiring or electrical interference

dudwell · Nov 14, 2010, 15:11:08

Quote from: mrapoc on Nov 14, 2010, 14:34:08
What speed will the fibre be?

I should say 200mbps home plugs would be fine

Altho I do get occasional lag spikes on mine while game, possibly down to poor electrical wiring or electrical interference

I believe the fibre speed isn't known yet, neither is it certain that she will go for it. As she doesn't do gaming I'm thinking 200mbps homeplugs are a reasonably safe bet. Thanks everyone. What an excellent place to come to for advice!

Gary · Nov 15, 2010, 07:53:28

I gave up on home plugs, I get better speeds with wireless N over the 5Ghz spectrum. Allowing for error correction and other control traffic, and you're looking at a best-case scenario of 120Mbps. In the real word, the typical throughput lies somewhere between 50Mbps and 70Mbps. I got better speeds over 802.N

esh · Nov 15, 2010, 20:10:57

I get 30-35 Mbps on an 85 Mbps set of plugs. They're about borderline for VDSL in other words, and easily do ADSL2.