# Powerline internet adapters - who uses and what is recommended?



## drmike (Jun 22, 2014)

I am in the market for some powerline adapters for network use.

Long ago tired of busting arse  through masonry and plaster and intending on moving in the not so distant future, so no interest investing more cash in stuff to leave behind (i.e. ethernet runs, receptacles,  etc.).  Wifi won't cut it here, indoors and I am meh about the microwave in the box effect..

So contemplating powerline adapters as the fix for now.

Anyone using powerline adapters and can endorse a brand or model?


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## WSWD (Jun 22, 2014)

I wish I could give you a brand, but I don't use them personally.  Have friends who have used them with very good results.  I tried them way back in the day when they first came out, and they were shitty...just plain shitty.  Would constantly disconnect, speeds were awful, etc.  Has apparently improved greatly though.


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## drmike (Jun 22, 2014)

WSWD said:


> I wish I could give you a brand, but I don't use them personally.  Have friends who have used them with very good results.  I tried them way back in the day when they first came out, and they were shitty...just plain shitty.  Would constantly disconnect, speeds were awful, etc.  Has apparently improved greatly though.


Glad to hear this... I wrote them off years ago for similar reasons.


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## wlanboy (Jun 22, 2014)

It depends on your home environment.

If two adapters are connected through the same electric circuit everything is fine.

If they are connected through the fuse box or other circuits you will get really bad results.

Don't ever use extension leads too.

They consume about 7-9W. Some do have sleep modes with about 3W.

So they can (you always need at least two) easily eat 5000 Wh per month.

Want to spend money, buy Devolo, if you want to save one buy Allnet or TP-Link.


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## drmike (Jun 22, 2014)

wlanboy said:


> It depends on your home environment.
> 
> If two adapters are connected through the same electric circuit everything is fine.
> 
> ...


Whole bunch of interets of mine all in one post 

So yeah, will be hitting different circuit/fuse no doubt.  Unsure if on different bus bar.  Noticed some higher end panel hack gear fro the bus bar bridging for these (or something along those lines - I am an amateur electrician - at best).

Why the extension core warning?

7-9W seems damn high per adapter.  Not too bad with time and proper power runtime. I am big on Kill-a-watt testing gear.  So will be interesting.  Sleeping at 3W is laughably high.

TP-Link   That company sure has come a long way.  Short listed for consideration. 

Appreciated!


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## wlanboy (Jun 22, 2014)

drmike said:


> Why the extension core warning?
> 
> 7-9W seems damn high per adapter.  Not too bad with time and proper power runtime. I am big on Kill-a-watt testing gear.  So will be interesting.  Sleeping at 3W is laughably high.


The user manual states that they should not be used.

The data sheet of the TL-PA6010 states a power consumtion of < 3W.

So the new generation is not such energy wasters.


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## raindog308 (Jun 22, 2014)

wlanboy said:


> So they can (you always need at least two) easily eat 5000 Wh per month.


"My home network consumes 5 Megawatts a month so I can ssh from my Windows box to my Linux server."


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## rmlhhd (Jun 22, 2014)

I personally use the TP-Link PA411's  - I have two, both either side of the house. They are 500Mbps and work great. I've done some power consumption tests and found that they only use ~2W while on and transferring data. They have a sleep mode although the one that is connected directly to the router never goes to sleep. 

I do a lot of gaming and can't see any difference even when there's power hungry appliances on in the house.


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## blergh (Jun 22, 2014)

We sell TP-link and D-link's different adapters at work, both of them are great. I'll get back to you with the exact models, but both are good for your intended usage.


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## Deleted (Jun 22, 2014)

Powerline adapters are OK depending on your requirements. I use them for from one room to another for a private vlan with jumbo frames and they work great, I get about 190mbit/s across the LAN with some jitter (due to poor, cheap wiring)

However, most newer homes since 2006 have AFCI switches for bedrooms on the breaker box, which will murder your throughput as much as 80%. Some AFCI brands use a capacitor in front of the bridge which makes it worthless to use. Others are PLE friendly and don't suck as much.

Make sure you get the 3 plug ones (Linksys has decent ones, netgear is hit-or-miss depending on the Atheros chipset)


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## drmike (Jun 22, 2014)

Servaman said:


> I personally use the TP-Link PA411's  - I have two, both either side of the house. They are 500Mbps and work great. I've done some power consumption tests and found that they only use ~2W while on and transferring data. They have a sleep mode although the one that is connected directly to the router never goes to sleep.
> 
> I do a lot of gaming and can't see any difference even when there's power hungry appliances on in the house.


What is that Belkin watt meter?  Haven't seen that before  Please share.


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## rmlhhd (Jun 22, 2014)

drmike said:


> What is that Belkin watt meter? Haven't seen that before  Please share.


It's a Belkin Conserve


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## Kakashi (Jun 23, 2014)

wlanboy said:


> It depends on your home environment.
> 
> If two adapters are connected through the same electric circuit everything is fine.
> 
> ...


I've found extension leads don't cause too much throughput loss as long as they aren't surge protected.


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## drmike (Jun 24, 2014)

Thanks found some misfit Belkins for a song... Waiting for shipping.


Can not wait to see these work and with other new kit.


Surge protection is an issue ahh ha.


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## trewq (Jun 24, 2014)

drmike said:


> Thanks found some misfit Belkins for a song... Waiting for shipping.
> 
> 
> Can not wait to see these work and with other new kit.
> ...


What model did you decide on?


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## drmike (Jun 24, 2014)

Belkin gigabit f5d....


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## ocitysolutions (Jun 24, 2014)

If you're still considering powerline adapters, I use TRENDnet TPL-405E's
Haven't had any issues, but not as a good (fast) as Ethernet would be.


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## drmike (Jun 25, 2014)

ocitysolutions said:


> If you're still considering powerline adapters, I use TRENDnet TPL-405E's
> 
> 
> Haven't had any issues, but not as a good (fast) as Ethernet would be.


I put these on my shopping list.. I suspec the Belkin stuff to be meh and I like to see diffrent manuafacturers kit when I get in these moods to do something.  Appreciated!


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## drmike (Mar 13, 2015)

Bumping this....

I finally went with some TP-Link's.

Impressed with the smaller size compared to prior powerline adapters.  Configuration was 2 button pushes, plugging it in and connecting the ethernet cable.

Interestingly these too leak out onto public utility pools.  In fact I've connected them on two different utility services pulled from 2 different poles.

Once spring officially settles in, I am likely testing them at neighbors properties to see how far that signal will remain usable and connect.  In theory if that works, wouldn't be a bad way to share some cheap internet connectivity with almost zero complexity.


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## mojeda (Mar 13, 2015)

From what I remember they will only work on the same circuit they are plugged into, that being said I also hope those have some good encryption.


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## drmike (Mar 13, 2015)

mojeda said:


> From what I remember they will only work on the same circuit they are plugged into, that being said I also hope those have some good encryption.


Hard to say to what degree powerline adapters work on newer electric breaker boxes.   If box were to include filtering and power regulation (higher end stuff does), very well might end up not working unless same circuit.

Encryption is indeed a concern.   I don't think these do enough, but I need to check and see what they claim.  Certainly nothing user side other than 1 button on the units.  Pairing much like you do with Bluetooth user experience wise.

I am per se fine with wide open non crypto where I would tunnel between the two ends entirely.  Not pedestrian.  VPN server + client likely the easiest hacker piece to facilitate that while keeping things "simple".   I run VPN on nearly everything these days normally (Android devices, ARM devices, etc.).


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