Hello
I'm currently using two Solwise 200Mbps piggyback home plugs (http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-av-push-piggy.htm) to network two rooms but experiences slow network speeds.
The whole house has had a complete electrical rewiring recently, foolishly I didn't have any CAT5 layed, so went for the home plug option. The plugs connected at top speed for the first two days, showing speed as green status - 'connection better than 105Mbps', then dropped to Amber - 'between 40 - 105Mbps' and remained stable for about three months. Over the past three weeks the connection speed has dropped further to red '< 40Mbps'.
No additional electrical equipment has been added anywhere in the house, since the original setup and both plugs are plugged directly into the electrical points, not extensions.
My setup
Room 1
Netgear DG834GT (DG Team v848 latest firmware) runs rock solid, ADSL 8Mbit line
connected to
1. Popcornhour media player via CAT5
2. Solwise 200Mbps HomePlug with CAT5
3. Nintendo Wii - WiFi
4. Laptop - WiFi
Room 2
Solwise 200Mbps HomePlug connecetd to
10/100Mbit switch connected to
1. Office PC 10/100 NIC
2. Home server 10/100 NIC
In Room 2, the HomePlug has always shown connection speed at green status. In Room 1 the connection speed is now red. My understanding is the status colour should be the same on both (there are only two plugs in the network). I queried this with Solwise and they suggested that the plug in Room 1 maybe faulty and so I ordered a third. I swapped all three plugs around (with only two plugs plugged in at any one time) and it seems that no matter what plug I put in Rooom 2, the status always becomes red after a few minutes. I suspect it is the plug sockets in Room 1 (having tried 4 sockets in the room)
I'm looking for alternatives to connect the two rooms without laying CAT5.
1. Different brand HomePlugs
2. Wireless - draftN
Has anyone had any experience with the Solwise HomePlugs and found a better alternative?
If I go down the wireless router, I need robust hardware - must have a good uptime for ADSL and wireless and be capable of streaming HD, ideally 1080p but 720p is ok for the time being.
Room 1 needs ADSL modem/router with wireless but not sure what I should get for room 2 - wireless access point or bridge - I don't know much about either or alternatively get USB or PCI wireless cards for the Office PC and Server.
Having used a wireless USB adaptor on the server and found this to be very flaky, it connected fast and but would drop after a couple of hours of intense transfer and never pick up again.
The two wireless devices will be placed 3m apart separated by a brick wall.
Any suggestions for suitable hardware and setup would be greatly appreciated.
TIA
Pug
I'm currently using two Solwise 200Mbps piggyback home plugs (http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-av-push-piggy.htm) to network two rooms but experiences slow network speeds.
The whole house has had a complete electrical rewiring recently, foolishly I didn't have any CAT5 layed, so went for the home plug option. The plugs connected at top speed for the first two days, showing speed as green status - 'connection better than 105Mbps', then dropped to Amber - 'between 40 - 105Mbps' and remained stable for about three months. Over the past three weeks the connection speed has dropped further to red '< 40Mbps'.
No additional electrical equipment has been added anywhere in the house, since the original setup and both plugs are plugged directly into the electrical points, not extensions.
My setup
Room 1
Netgear DG834GT (DG Team v848 latest firmware) runs rock solid, ADSL 8Mbit line
connected to
1. Popcornhour media player via CAT5
2. Solwise 200Mbps HomePlug with CAT5
3. Nintendo Wii - WiFi
4. Laptop - WiFi
Room 2
Solwise 200Mbps HomePlug connecetd to
10/100Mbit switch connected to
1. Office PC 10/100 NIC
2. Home server 10/100 NIC
In Room 2, the HomePlug has always shown connection speed at green status. In Room 1 the connection speed is now red. My understanding is the status colour should be the same on both (there are only two plugs in the network). I queried this with Solwise and they suggested that the plug in Room 1 maybe faulty and so I ordered a third. I swapped all three plugs around (with only two plugs plugged in at any one time) and it seems that no matter what plug I put in Rooom 2, the status always becomes red after a few minutes. I suspect it is the plug sockets in Room 1 (having tried 4 sockets in the room)
I'm looking for alternatives to connect the two rooms without laying CAT5.
1. Different brand HomePlugs
2. Wireless - draftN
Has anyone had any experience with the Solwise HomePlugs and found a better alternative?
If I go down the wireless router, I need robust hardware - must have a good uptime for ADSL and wireless and be capable of streaming HD, ideally 1080p but 720p is ok for the time being.
Room 1 needs ADSL modem/router with wireless but not sure what I should get for room 2 - wireless access point or bridge - I don't know much about either or alternatively get USB or PCI wireless cards for the Office PC and Server.
Having used a wireless USB adaptor on the server and found this to be very flaky, it connected fast and but would drop after a couple of hours of intense transfer and never pick up again.
The two wireless devices will be placed 3m apart separated by a brick wall.
Any suggestions for suitable hardware and setup would be greatly appreciated.
TIA
Pug