– Powerline Ethernet or Wireless?
Powerline ethernet describes data transfer through electric power lines. What this basically indicates is that you are able to plug in a powerline ethernet adapter in the wall, connect it into your router, and plugin in another adapter near your computer, and hook up your pc to it. You will be utilizing these adapters as a way to use your existing electrical lines as a means to transfer internet data. Your internet is going through existing electrical wire!
This looks great, and it can be, with some caveats. Let’s dig in. Just how fast is a powerline adapter? Netgear has some models we can use to illustrate: the entry-level XE102 product supports up to 14mbs, while the mid-range model supports 85MBps, and the top model claims speeds up to 200 MBps. Gigabit ethernet over electrical wire is also on the market.
The speeds listed for powerline adapters are theoretical and the speeds people achieve in real situations will be less. Before delving straight into specifics, I would like to consider wireless internet technology. As of 2010, the quickest technology for wireless available is 802.11n with theoretical speeds of around 300Mbps with channel bonding. 802.11g clocks in at 54Mbps. Wireless technologies tend to be affected by walls and radio interference so actual speeds are less.
Measured rates of speed in non-lab conditions for electrical internet adapters indicate useful speeds of 30-45 Mbps. This depends on encryption, the circuitry of the elextrical system, and other electrical interference. There is not a lot of difference between gigabit ethernet and 200 MBps with regards to speeds.
Looking at the data, you would believe that wireless is the obvious choice. However, the only real way to ascertain which system performs better for you is to test both out. Powerline ethernet performs better than wireless-g for several individuals, including my house. The decision for me was whether I should upgrade from Wireless-G or simply get powerline ethernet. The adapter is cheaper, and one can hook up a wireless router to one of these adapters as a repeater. I tried it, and it worked better for me than wireless-G, and was cheaper than upgrading to wireless-N.
To get more thoughts, visit these product pages: http://powerlineethernetadapter.net/linksys-pltk300-powerline-network-kit.html and the .
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