Powerline adapters, niche junk or?

[MadduckUK]

Good afternoon peoples, it has been a minute

So I have moved into a new place and for the first time in a looong time a Cat6 run is not going to be viable. I got the Devolo Magic 2 starter kit, it's requirements were to make a VDSL2 connection the same as it would be over ethernet, USB2 speeds over the network would be kinda ok, and the mesh wifi a thing to mess around with.

They are TERRIBLE! Web browsing is fine, works, somehow less snappy but seems consistent, but then as soon as you do anything sustained the ping goes through the roof and often the devices disconnect from each other entirely. Also speedtests are down by 20% from ethernet, it's only an 80meg line, i'm not trying to saturate gigabit here! No speed and no stability, what an attractive combo.

I had another set of Devolo homeplugs 10+ years ago, on a different pc, in a different house, and they were crap as well foor eerily similar reasons. Is anyone actually happy with the homeplugs they are using? Is it just a Devolo thing? or should I screw it and use my routers AC1300 because at least I will get the speed? I have an amazon return booked so they are going back either way tomorrow.

Also, the hilarious ratings like 2400Mbps on these homeplugs makes me feel dirty buying them, so bonus points for rated speed having some relevance to this reality.

Ta x

[Jonj1611]

I have had very mixed results with powerline plugs, one was downstairs and the other up, because they crossed 2 circuits think we had problems. Then we moved and had the same issue on the same circuit.

Frequent disconnections and no where near the speed advertised

[Rob_B]

I've always had success with them, using some right now from when I turned my shed into an office, I get almost full speed as if I were next to the router.
These are the ones I'm using but only because I was gifted them https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-netw...l-pa4020p-kit/

They're pretty cheap now too compared to years ago (from memory)

[kalniel]

Completely depends on the individual house's situation unfortunately. I had good success with fairly low-speed rated ones where stability of connection (and router uptime) was more important than peak bandwidth (and I was on slow internet anyway). Routers have mostly improved since so wifi doesn't knock them over so much, though I'd still use powerline as part of range extending if needed.

[MadduckUK]

I have had very mixed results with powerline plugs, one was downstairs and the other up, because they crossed 2 circuits think we had problems. Then we moved and had the same issue on the same circuit.

Frequent disconnections and no where near the speed advertised

Yeah that tallies.

I've always had success with them, using some right now from when I turned my shed into an office, I get almost full speed as if I were next to the router.
These are the ones I'm using but only because I was gifted them https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-netw...l-pa4020p-kit/

They're pretty cheap now too compared to years ago (from memory)

TP-Link are at the top of the list, good experiences with the stuff in the past so a PA7017P or PA8010P kit depending on whether I find meaningful performance improvements between them from reviews in the next day or so. Netgear PL1000s in third place.

Completely depends on the individual house's situation unfortunately. I had good success with fairly low-speed rated ones where stability of connection (and router uptime) was more important than peak bandwidth (and I was on slow internet anyway). Routers have mostly improved since so wifi doesn't knock them over so much, though I'd still use powerline as part of range extending if needed.

She may be old, but my HH5a with OpenWrt is a tank, I have no doubt she will cope if asked upon. I just wanted ethernet facsimile.

[Saracen999]

From what I could make out, it depends on the state of your mains, including design and age. A friend had superb results, another found them dire. It's a bit pot-luck for me.

[jimborae]

Devolo despite being expensive do seem to have some issues. Currently using TP-Link 1200 ones at present and they're pretty good, but as others have said the home's mains circuit and what's plugged into it near the homeplug makes a huge difference where powerline are concerned. Personally I wouldn't use Devolo after reading some of the reviews.

[Output]

From what I could make out, it depends on the state of your mains, including design and age. A friend had superb results, another found them dire. It's a bit pot-luck for me.

I suspect that my experience tallies with the state of the mains, particularly the age part as the wiring is obviously likely to be much better in newer builds.

I currently use the TP-Link PA-9020 Kit (which from what I understand is now EOL, although the 9020P variation isn't) with no problems whatsoever, but the few types (non-TP Link) I tried at another address I kept having issues with random disconnections so went with a long ethernet cable instead as a result (wireless still wasn't ideal).

I can't rule out some power-saving mode that I didn't have access to or perhaps didn't know about though (the TP-Link allows you to toggle the energy saving function off if you prefer, which I did here in case that was the problem all along - although you need to use their software utility to do so and should have the prerequisite of npcap installed in WinPcap-compatible mode [as WinPcap hasn't been updated in years, hence the WinPcap site even recommending moving to npcap] for it to actually launch).

I suspect it is indeed the actual mains and age of the wiring that is the main differentiator on how well it works though.

[[GSV]Trig]

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-netw...ne/tl-wpa4220/

I've used these ones many times with good results, all depends on the age of the house and the wiring.

[DDY]

I’ve been using multiple TP Link PA4010P for years. Except for a dropped connection issue which was fixed by turning off the energy-saving mode they’ve been running 100%.

The most extreme success I’ve had which is still running now, are two adapters across different mains rings, one of those adapters is on a spur which heads outside and 15m down to the shed at the end of the garden by buried armoured cable. Speed drops down to about 40Mbps but the connection is dead solid with pings about 1-3ms. Helps that it's a new-build house I suppose.

[pp05]

I bought a basic version as a backup for when wifi slowed to a crawl, wish I had gone for a wifi version now.

Mesh units has helped clear most issues in the house.

[spacein_vader]

From what I could make out, it depends on the state of your mains, including design and age. A friend had superb results, another found them dire. It's a bit pot-luck for me.

That's largely my experience. Sometimes they work reasonably well sometimes not. As much of that is sown to wiring than the units themselves.

For me my preference in descending order:

1.ethernet where possible.
2. Mesh, with ethernet backhaul
3. Mesh with powerilline backhaul
4. Mesh with wireless backhaul.

[DanceswithUnix]

I use the TP-Link 1Gbit ones. I have far too many scattered around the house (like 10 of them) which I think is starting to cause some contention problems where one will slow down occasionally, but they don't actually drop out.

I don't get anywhere close to 1Gbps but going across mains rings from downstairs to upstairs via the garage at the far side of the house it comfortably outruns my 70Mbps broadband and it is way more stable than wifi.

These days I'm using them as a backhaul for my mesh nodes, so I get a bit of extra resilience built in.

You do have to keep them away from mains filters.

So I'm a very happy user. House was built in the 1970's.

[Unique]

i used them for years, upgrading every so often to the latest fastest ones. generally the speed you get is less than half the advertised speed as that is based on the speed going both ways at the same time, when usually you measure one way at a time, so 1200mb plugs is max 600mb in perfect world setup, but you'll get about 80-90% realistically. connect then right into the wall socket. various things that emit interference can effect them as they are kinda forcing a wifi type signal through your electric cabls

[Apex]

Got two of the tp link 2000Mpbs ones, never ever seen that speed, currently one connection is showing 535Mbps and the other 335Mbps; they are used for back haul on the wi-fi mesh ap's.

I looked into the 2400Mbps ones from devolo but could not justify the cost though the newer homeplug standards it supports might help get the speed up (not that its needed really)

For the years i have been running these they seem very hit and miss in which situation they work well in, guess it pays to buy from amazon and return them if they don't work out.

[jimbouk]

Got a pair of TPLink 500Mbps ones which link downstairs at the front of the house (router) to upstairs at the back of the house (wifi, second PC). Currently we get intermittent dropouts during use which I'm assuming is due to being on different circuits? Still need to figure out how to get a cable up a floor without making a mess but will still be relying on them to get to a different room once done.

A single wifi box was enough to cover the whole house when in the right place so seems daft to go down the mesh route (expense) when I had all the kit already.