Mains Ethernet adapters - £14.99 a pair !

Emp_Fab

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/trendnet-tpl-308e2k-200-mbps-mini-powerline-ethernet-adapter-pack-2-trendnet-6-14-1668405

From Amazon.

Ossum deal.  I've ordered a pair, as I get very poor signal in my music room.

digitalscream

Yup - that's a great deal. My one word of warning would be that you won't see anywhere near 200Mbps out of it. In fact, if you have a fast fibre connection (78Mbps here), you could well see it limited by your internal network. I often struggle to get more than 65Mbps out of it on transfers within the house, even though all the adapters are running at over 150Mbps.

ftumch

Talk about fortuitous, just what I was after cheers emp

dchwhite

Thanks for posting @emp_fab, I've been looking for some too...

@digitalscream could I ask you a quick question, please? I have been waiting for 7dayshop.com to drop the price of their 500Mbps version of these for a bit now, but if I've understood what you've said correctly, there's no point - the speed in a normal domestic setting isn't going to hit 200, let alone 500...? If so, I think I'll buy a set of the ones Emp recommended too...

digitalscream

dchwhite said:

Thanks for posting @emp_fab, I've been looking for some too...

@digitalscream could I ask you a quick question, please? I have been waiting for 7dayshop.com to drop the price of their 500Mbps version of these for a bit now, but if I've understood what you've said correctly, there's no point - the speed in a normal domestic setting isn't going to hit 200, let alone 500...? If so, I think I'll buy a set of the ones Emp recommended too...

No, the 500Mbps ones will still be faster, just (most likely) proportionally so. When I had 85Mbps adapters, it was even worse.

dchwhite

@digitalscream thanks Are the 500Mbps ones faster because they have more headroom? I think I might hang on for those ones - I have the PS3 attached to a TV upstairs, and some days watching iPlayer via WiFi on it is alright, and other days (most days lately) it drops out all over the place. I think something wired might hopefully defeat the 'here and gone again' WiFi.

digitalscream

dchwhite said:

@digitalscream thanks Are the 500Mbps ones faster because they have more headroom? I think I might hang on for those ones - I have the PS3 attached to a TV upstairs, and some days watching iPlayer via WiFi on it is alright, and other days (most days lately) it drops out all over the place. I think something wired might hopefully defeat the 'here and gone again' WiFi.

They use a different method of encoding the information (and modulating it over the earth connection) to get the higher speeds.

200Mbps units are fine for streaming 720p video, at least - that's what I use for streaming from upstairs to the Pi downstairs. It'll work fine for iPlayer in HD mode

dchwhite

Thanks very much

ESBlonde

I too have been contemplating these for Smart TV where WiFi is inadequate, ordered thanks.

bertie

they're actually £18+ a pair from amazon

the link takes you here.............. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BIH8W40/ref=nosim

ESBlonde

I ordered them from another site that actually had them in stock and can deliver. Extra £3

Emp_Fab

bertie said:

they're actually £18+ a pair from amazon

the link takes you here.............. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BIH8W40/ref=nosim

No they're not... they're £14.99....  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trendnet-TPL-308E2K-Powerline-Ethernet-Adapter/dp/B00BIH8W40/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

I bought them yesterday and paid £14.99 for them.

The link from the Hotukdeals site does indeed appear to have changed for some odd reason and does link to a pair for £18, but if you look on the right side of the page under 'More buying choices' - it lists them at £14.99 with free delivery.

Emp_Fab

I am talking to you this morning through the medium of my house mains wiring !  The ethernet adapters have arrived and bish-bash-bosh, plug them in and hey presto !  I'm getting 154Mbps - which is fine by me as my switch is only a 100Mbps and the line into the house is only 8Mbps.

I have also ordered one of these... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TP-LINK-TL-WR703N-150Mbps-150M-Nano-Mini-Portable-WiFi-3G-Wireless-Router-AP-G9-/310761756889?pt=UK_Computing_Wireless_Routers&hash=item485ad818d9

Which is a magick boxe !!  It's a nano-router thingy that can act as an access point, a router, a repeater, a 3G dongle to wireless thingy, a teasmade and a coffee warmer.

I plan to plug it into my mains-ethernet adapter and solve all my upstairs wifi signal issues AND plug my main PC into the mains adapter via a mini switch to give me max speed to my NAS box.  ....and I saw contractors laying fibre along the road last week.  OMG OMG OMG !!  Just get me a CAT5 socket fitted in my arse and I'm Neo.

scrumhalf

Is there any reduction in performance if these things are plugged into an extension lead rather than the wall-socket itself?

streethawk

scrumhalf said:

Is there any reduction in performance if these things are plugged into an extension lead rather than the wall-socket itself?

Apparently not.

I ordered a pair when they were due for delivery in 3 weeks, but they've got them back in stock now. Mine are due Monday. 

Cheers, Emp!

Emp_Fab

Make sure you generate a new random encryption key by holding the little 'sync' button in for 3 secs on one then the other, as otherwise, in theory, other people on the same supply as you within the however-many hundred feet range they have could connect to your network if they were using the same units.  Unlikely, but still... best practice and all that.

Remember, you don't have to plug one into your router, if you already have a wired connection that's connected to your network somewhere.  e.g. in my case, it would have been a pain to plug it in where the router is, and I already have a length of ethernet cable running from the router to the Xboxes in the living room, and I've got a little 4-port mini switch under the TV, so my 'master' unit is plugged in behind the telly.

bertie

Ive been using the old Solwise 85mbs ones for a couple of years and they're OK for general file-sharing/WWW access (browsing)  I could do with a tad faster throughput for downloading stuff over VPN at work.

They do say  not to use on extension leads, and not to use on separate rings, or a circuit separated at the dist box................ I dont follow those rules,  the earth in this cottage is noisy beyond belief - and these things work fine.  HOWEVER, they do say the slower the plug, the more resilient to noise.

digitalscream

scrumhalf said:

Is there any reduction in performance if these things are plugged into an extension lead rather than the wall-socket itself?

Actually, yes (in my experience), but it depends on what else is on that extension. You can also get significant interference from dodgy kit plugged in anywhere - for example, my wife's laptop charger had started making that nasty buzzing sound and basically stopped the entire network functioning. Took me ages to figure out what the problem was (and why it suddenly started around 6pm every day). It just caused so much noise on the earth of the mains that the Homeplug units couldn't do their job.

mart

Emp_Fab said:

Make sure you generate a new random encryption key by holding the little 'sync' button in for 3 secs on one then the other, as otherwise, in theory, other people on the same supply as you within the however-many hundred feet range they have could connect to your network if they were using the same units.  ...

So that sync thing is just to protect against someone else tapping into your connection by using the same kind of unit? I thought it would give the same password-protection on the extension unit as you had on your router. Except that, no matter how many times I tried to sync it, it still wasn't protected. So I guess you're right!

In which case, how do you make the extension unit password protected? At the moment you need a password to connect to the wifi on our wired router, but anyone can connect to the wifi from the extension unit.

Rocker

Are they left plugged in and powered up all the time or do you unplug/switch off the socket switch when the network is not required?

Emp_Fab

@mart  - "but anyone can connect to the wifi from the extension unit" ???  The 'extension unit' isn't wi-fi - it's a wired ethernet socket.  As far as your network is concerned, you must think of the units as nothing more complex than a long ethernet cable - because that's all that they do.  You don't need a password if you plug your computer directly into your router with a cable, and the same applies with these mains units - as you are effectively doing exactly the same thing.  The point of having authentication (passwords) and encryption on WiFi is because your WiFi signal will reach outside your house.  There is no need for either on a wired home network as no unauthorised people can plug in - unless you're leaving long extension cables hanging over your front wall ! :-)

@Rocker  Yeah - they're in and on all the time.  I've noticed they go into a sleep mode if there's no active connection on the extension end.  As soon as you plug something in, they wake up.  Nothing stopping you from unplugging them when not needed though - switching the socket off will do the same as they are powered from the mains.