[pmjones]

Sorry if this has been asked (and covered) before, but if you don't have an ethernet cable plugged into the back of your receiver (722k, for example), what is the quickest of the following ~

- Power Line Broadband Connector

- Wi-Fi Broadband Connector

I use the Power Line method ~ seems ok, but is WiFi any quicker?

 

[Stewart Vernon]

Not an easy question to answer...

There are different speeds of Powerline ethernet available, as are there different speeds of WiFi.

And at any given speed, powerline is hindered by the quality of the wiring in your home... while WiFi is hindered by the air quality as well as interference from other wireless devices in and around your home.

It is a big your-mileage-may-vary situation.

 

[pmjones]

Not an easy question to answer...

There are different speeds of Powerline ethernet available, as are there different speeds of WiFi.

And at any given speed, powerline is hindered by the quality of the wiring in your home... while WiFi is hindered by the air quality as well as interference from other wireless devices in and around your home.

It is a big your-mileage-may-vary situation.

Thanks for the response. For testing purposes, I suppose this is a 'trial-and-error' experiment?

 

[SayWhat?]

In most cases, running a network cable really isn't all that hard.

 

[Stewart Vernon]

Thanks for the response. For testing purposes, I suppose this is a 'trial-and-error' experiment?

Yeah... I'm not running Powerline ethernet anymore... but when I was, I was using SlingLink adapters. What I learned then was that even though SlingLink Turbo adapters were supposed to be backwards compatible... my powerline network didn't like it with mixed devices... so I ultimately had to have all Turbo or all non-Turbo adapters in the system. That problem was uncovered because the 622/722 had slower speed built-in powerline ethernet than did the 922... so when I got my 922, I had to stop using the built-in on my 622 and get a Turbo adapter.

Meanwhile... Wifi has less of those headaches, but I've had miscellaneous issues with cordless phones, neighbor WiFi, the router itself... and of course I have devices capable of b, g, n WiFi so that muddles things.

Everything is easiest if you can have everything at the same level... but either powerline or WiFi allows for a lot more variables than wired ethernet. So I try to wire everything that I can.

 

[DoyleS]

I initially purchased one of the new Apple Express Modems for this task as I have an Apple Extreme main Router and an older Apple Express that provides Ethernet faultlessly from the Extreme to my theater room. However the new Apple Express loses contact almost every day and needs to be reset. I went through a process of debugging and making sure I was on a clear wifi channel but still had drops. This pretty much made my Sling adapter useless as you could not reset the wifi when you were trying to use the Sling remotely. So this last weekend I pulled a 60 ft Cat 5e cable from the Extreme to the location and wired the connectors to it. Toughest part was putting the new connectors on and fortunately I have a tester that checks the cable and connectors. Pulling a commercially built cable with connectors already on it means drilling much larger holes whereas this was able to be done through the existing holes where the Sat cables were running. Took about 2 hours but well worth the effort to have a hard wired connection.

 

[TBoneit]

The first thing I did with my router was turn off the wireless.

Everything is hardwired, from basement to attic.

It wasn't that hard.

 

[satcrazy]

Yeah... I'm not running Powerline ethernet anymore... but when I was, I was using SlingLink adapters. What I learned then was that even though SlingLink Turbo adapters were supposed to be backwards compatible... my powerline network didn't like it with mixed devices... so I ultimately had to have all Turbo or all non-Turbo adapters in the system. That problem was uncovered because the 622/722 had slower speed built-in powerline ethernet than did the 922... so when I got my 922, I had to stop using the built-in on my 622 and get a Turbo adapter.

Meanwhile... Wifi has less of those headaches, but I've had miscellaneous issues with cordless phones, neighbor WiFi, the router itself... and of course I have devices capable of b, g, n WiFi so that muddles things.

Everything is easiest if you can have everything at the same level... but either powerline or WiFi allows for a lot more variables than wired ethernet. So I try to wire everything that I can.

Sorry to sound dumb, but what is the difference between "powerline" ethernet and standard? Is" powerline" used in DSL? Any difference between cat5e and 6?

Or is "powerline" just another term for hardwired?

 

[DoyleS]

Powerline Ethernet uses the wires of the powerline to carry the signal. The powerline gets modulated with the signal and at the receiver end, there is a demodulator connected to the powerline that receives the signal. It can work pretty well but since the US power is normally 240 volts with a Neutral line in the middle. That essentially gives you two separate 120 volt supplies in your home with the only common being the neutral line. That said, sometimes there are problems if the transmitter is on one side and the receiver is on the other side.

Cat 5e cable is rated to 350MHz and Cat 6 cable is rated to 500 Mhz. Both will handle Gigabit ethernet. Cat5e meets the minimum requirement whereas Cat 6 has more headroom and 6A can handle 10 Gigabit.

Hardwired means using a direct connection with a 4 pair ethernet cable whether that be Cat 5, Cat 5e or Cat 6.

 

[satcrazy]

Powerline Ethernet uses the wires of the powerline to carry the signal. The powerline gets modulated with the signal and at the receiver end, there is a demodulator connected to the powerline that receives the signal. It can work pretty well but since the US power is normally 240 volts with a Neutral line in the middle. That essentially gives you two separate 120 volt supplies in your home with the only common being the neutral line. That said, sometimes there are problems if the transmitter is on one side and the receiver is on the other side.

Cat 5e cable is rated to 350MHz and Cat 6 cable is rated to 500 Mhz. Both will handle Gigabit ethernet. Cat5e meets the minimum requirement whereas Cat 6 has more headroom and 6A can handle 10 Gigabit.

Hardwired means using a direct connection with a 4 pair ethernet cable whether that be Cat 5, Cat 5e or Cat 6.

Thanks for the lesson, D.

How widely is powerline ethernet used? Once again, sounding a bit ignorant, I've not heard of it before. DSL,fios, sat,cable, is all I'm familiar with.

Does cat 6a have the standard ethernet plug? Is it mostly for business/ and overkill for home use?

 

[DoyleS]

The one Dish sells is a powerline adapter. the technology is pretty good. I wouldn't say it is as popular as wireless. Keep in mind that it is used in your personal network whereas DSL, fios, sat and cable are all how the Ethernet signal gets to your home or business. Once it is inside then you have to distribute it either with Cat cables, wifi or powerline ethernet. The most reliable is obviously hard wired Cat cables. They all use RJ45 plugs and connectors. Basically as they have got the cables going faster, the standard for new installations changes. You rarely see anyone installing Cat 5 anymore, it is all Cat 5e and Cat 6. If your router is a Gigabit router then Cat 6 would be a good choice for new wiring. If it is 100 megabit, then any of the cables will work fine.

 

[satcrazy]

thanks again.

while looking for something else I came across this.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Linksys-Homeplug-AV-4-Port-Network-Adapter-Kit/19795291

thanks for the explanation. I understand it now.

 

[Jhon69]

Thanks for the lesson, D.

How widely is powerline ethernet used? Once again, sounding a bit ignorant, I've not heard of it before. DSL,fios, sat,cable, is all I'm familiar with.

Does cat 6a have the standard ethernet plug? Is it mostly for business/ and overkill for home use?

I use the DISH Sling Turbo Adaptor and really like it,just make sure your DISH receivers are plugged into the wall sockets(not a surge suppressor) the technology is in the DISH receivers,all I needed was 1 DISH Sling Turbo Adaptor(supplied free by the DISH installer) connected to my router and plugged into a wall socket.I have all my DISH receivers(VIP922/wMT2 and 3-VIP211ks) connected to the broadband internet and I can see all of them when I test my DISHCOMM section,after I connected each one up in the Broadband Section.

I also think it's faster than wireless because I have one of those too and tried it hooked up,but wireless only worked for my 922