Powerline ethernet speeds

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I bought some powerline ethernet adapters a while back and have been very happy with them. They are rated up to 300 Mbps, but I get anywhere from 150-200 Mbps, which is fine. I am thinking of upgrading them to 1 Gbps, but Im not sure if that will get me significantly more speed.

Since I am currently only getting 1/2 to 2/3 max speed of my current adapter, am I to expect that ratio from the 1 Gbps adapters? Or is the 200 Mbps the maximum speed supported by my physical wiring?

Now that I think about it, I suppose I can just buy the 1 Gbps adapters and if they dont offer a significant improvement, I can return them.

Keltari

Posted 2014-12-22T14:21:48.523

Reputation: 57 019

The 1gbps adaptors also use your ground connector to improve performance IIRC so it might. 300Mbps is an odd speed though - AV2 is 200Mbps, and the next step up is 500 (with a 600 mbps variation). – Journeyman Geek – 2014-12-22T14:25:10.437

Short answer is probably yes, long answer is not as much as your would hope.. You must likely see an improvement but it will not be as linear as you get 50% now so you'll get 50% on the 1Gbps it will most like give you a smaller boost. I would ask yourself what you use the connection for and then decide if the cost is worth the increase... – CharlesH – 2014-12-22T14:27:18.077

@CharlesH Hmmm... I bought some TP-Link adapters, definitely seem like a cheap brand. I wonder if a name brand adapter would be better. – Keltari – 2014-12-22T14:45:26.933

@Keltari I installed some Netgear powerline devices in a clients house once and we had some serious issues... Ended up having to but plug-in power filters to get them to work correctly, it turned out to be noise on the circuit causing slow speeds. We realised this after noticing that when his kids turned on more electrical equipment the speed went down, also his wife using a hair dryer in the on-suite made the connection almost unusable. Just something to keep in mind, the filters make a huge difference in some cases.. – CharlesH – 2014-12-22T14:56:04.373

@JourneymanGeek since I dont have them in front of me, I cant say with 100% certainty they are 300 Mbps. However, a quick search on newegg does show a variety 300 Mbps adapters. Not that it matters really... – Keltari – 2014-12-22T16:11:08.550

Answers

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am I to expect that ratio from the 1 Gbps adapters?

The answer is somewhat in-between. When power line network adapters are tested, they typically are done some in somewhat optimistic conditions. So, I seriously doubt you'll ever get the full speed of any adapter that you purchase.

That being said, the faster adapter will work better almost certainly.

Or is the 200 Mbps the maximum speed supported by my physical wiring?

That's actually a hard question to answer. Technically we can shove data down any cable until we reach the limits of physics. Powerline networking is really atypical because it has to deal with all sorts of interference and variables, chances are we will keep on releasing better technology to better handle these situations and make use of what you do have, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about that.

Arthur

Posted 2014-12-22T14:21:48.523

Reputation: 1 097

Asked: 2014-12-22T14:21:48.523

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Active: 2014-12-22T16:12:39.613