Who uses Homeplugs?

borrissey · 25-05-2011, 16:21

I've got Solwise 200 and Gigabit homeplugs. One to my 320gb PS3, then one to my 500gb PS3, then one to my blu ray player and one to my HD TV.

I'm upgrading them at the moment just bought one gigabit one which is connected to my superhub, need to buy a couple more now.

I want to get a wifi homeplug to extend my wireless range, can you just buy one and plug it in the wall does it run off the homeplugs or the wireless router. How do they work?

danielf · 25-05-2011, 17:10

I've got the devolo wireless extender. It consists of a standard homeplug that plugs into the router (wired) and a socket near the router. The homeplug at the other end communicates with the first one over the leccy cables. It also sets up its own wifi network and you log into that. It doesn't work off the wireless bit of the router. It is wired (over the leccy) to the router, and then sets up the wifi in the location where you plug it in. Obviously, you can connect multiple devices to the wireless, so it might save you a few quid over buying separate wired homeplugs.

Hope that makes sense. Dense day...

**Matt D** · 25-05-2011, 18:11

Moved to Networking

borrissey · 25-05-2011, 19:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielf

I've got the devolo wireless extender. It consists of a standard homeplug that plugs into the router (wired) and a socket near the router. The homeplug at the other end communicates with the first one over the leccy cables. It also sets up its own wifi network and you log into that. It doesn't work off the wireless bit of the router. It is wired (over the leccy) to the router, and then sets up the wifi in the location where you plug it in. Obviously, you can connect multiple devices to the wireless, so it might save you a few quid over buying separate wired homeplugs.

Hope that makes sense. Dense day...

Yeah I'm with you that's what I want so it runs off the homeplug. I just need a wifi homeplug that is compatible with my 1 gig homeplug then?

danielf · 25-05-2011, 19:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by borrissey

Yeah I'm with you that's what I want so it runs off the homeplug. I just need a wifi homeplug that is compatible with my 1 gig homeplug then?

Yeah. Also pay attention to the speed of the wifi, as that may be a bottleneck.

borrissey · 25-05-2011, 19:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielf

Yeah. Also pay attention to the speed of the wifi, as that may be a bottleneck.

What do you mean?

danielf · 25-05-2011, 20:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by borrissey

What do you mean?

The homeplug speed over the powerline will/may be different than the wifi speed. If the wifi is rated at 54 Mbps, than that is the max you will get, even if the homeplugs are rated at 1 Gb. The slowest speed in the system will be the bottleneck.

borrissey · 25-05-2011, 22:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielf

The homeplug speed over the powerline will/may be different than the wifi speed. If the wifi is rated at 54 Mbps, than that is the max you will get, even if the homeplugs are rated at 1 Gb. The slowest speed in the system will be the bottleneck.

Yeah I get what you mean? What's 11g then?

You mean like I got one 200mbs homeplug and 1000mbps you'd get the 200 max speed? If I had 1000mbs connected to router and another 1000mbs connected to ps3 then had a 11g 200mbs plugged in living room I'd still get upto 1000mbs wouldn't I?

danielf · 25-05-2011, 23:17

11G wireless is 54 Mbps.
11N is 300 Mbps, but realistic throughput is less than that.

Homeplugs are worse. My 85mbps plugs (with 54 mbps wifi) give a realistic throughput of 15 Mbps. You probably have a better idea of what the 200 plugs are capable of.

I'm not sure know what happens if you mix different homeplugs on one network. Two plugs that are rated at different speeds will only be able to communicate at the lower of the 2 speeds. Not sure what happens when two high speed plugs communicate on a network that also has a lower speed plug. Having said all that: I've only seen 200 Mbps plugs with wireless, so that in itself may limit your options.

borrissey · 26-05-2011, 12:03

How do you see what speeds you get from the homeplugs how many mbps?

danielf · 26-05-2011, 12:17

Typically, I just move a large file from one computer to the other and look at the reported speeds in the transfer box.

borrissey · 26-05-2011, 14:24

Thanks for all your help.

Earlier I did a test a ran all my homeplugged devices at once of VM super hub. I had Sony Blu ray player, slim PS3, phat PS3, Iplayer playing on Sony TV they were working ok but I think some were struggling all the lights on the blu ray player homeplug were flashing on and off. Whats the most you can run at one time?

I wouldn't have them all running at one time the most I would probably have is PS3 and laptop (wireless) maybe one other but not very often.