My Powerline and WIFI review with Steam Link.

[nineliex]

I had trouble finding infomation regarding whether to buy an expensive powerline or a cheap one. Neither of the multiple post i created gave me the exact infomation i wanted before purchasing. Since i finally purchase the slightly more expensive powerline, I thought i would like to share my experience so far with my Powerline and also WIFI.


POWERLINE:

Long story short:
I am having a stable <1ms connection with my powerline (TL-PA8010P KIT). The only lag that i recieve is from my tv display (20ms) which is unoticable at all.
I placed both powerlines in the electric socket beside the phone jack on the first floor and on the ground floor beside the phone jack also. ( i dont know whether this info helps. lel)

My Settings:
Beautiful
Unlimited

If you were to search about powerlines regarding steam link. The most common post you will be told about:

1. "With Powerline you're more or less at the mercy of the home wiring. Which basically is
'How much you're screwed depends on how drunk the electrician was' "

2. Powerline adds 20ms latency compared to lan cable.


While statement 1 is true, statement 2 is false as i manage to achieve <1ms.
The reason i choose the more expensive powerline is because it adapts a newer technology which is AV2 and also MIMO. This plays an important factor as it provides a more stable connection and lower latency.
There are some who argue that switching from 500mbps to 1200mbps increased their latency which i dont think is true as i manage to achieve <1ms which is the best possible result.

I think one of the biggest concern i had was with Fighthing and racing games. Let me tell you this, it DOES NOT FEEL DELAYED at all. Its as if i was playing on my ps4 since there is only <1ms lag from the steam link.



WIFI:

To my surprise, it is actually usable if you have a proper router. I am not even joking. I am using the Asus RT-AC55UHP with 84% signal strength ( as seen with my tl-wdn3200 driver). This is over my 2.4ghz connection, thats right 2.4ghz. 5ghz connection dosent work well for me since the signal strength is 45% ish due to the fact that majority of walls in malaysia is made of concrete. 5ghz, isnt playable. I guess signal strength plays a huge role regardless whether 5ghz is always better.
However, the 2.4ghz still has its flaws, using it alone at home, i have at least a 1 sec hiccup every 30minutes. The steam link is still usable if one person streams youtube while steam link is in use. However, if 2 person streams youtube at the same time, dont bother trying to use steam link.
The major problem with wifi is that it causes STEAM LINK TO FREEZE, that 1 sec lag can cause your steam link to be STUCK SHOWING A SINGLE FRAME forcing you to hit the power off switch or go upstairs navigate to off steam link to end the connection. Overall, I still do not personally recommend wifi.


Well, if you landed on this post, i hope it helps you somehow, I still strongly suggest powerline over wifi. Good Luck!

[bcursor]

About powerline adapters buy AC pass through ones. I have a tplink powerline adapter i have around 40 ms latency. It is not noticable. Don't forget on online games like dota 2 there is always 50 ms latency and it does not affect game play.

[Xjph]

Originally posted by NGY4M:

1. "With Powerline you're more or less at the mercy of the home wiring. Which basically is
'How much you're screwed depends on how drunk the electrician was' "

2. Powerline adds 20ms latency compared to lan cable.


While statement 1 is true, statement 2 is false as i manage to achieve <1ms.

The people saying they experience 20ms of latency over powerline are almost certainly talking about the Steam Link's display latency, and not just the network latency. You can see this number if you turn on performance stats in the streaming client settings and hit Start+Y on the controller to expand the extra detail. 20ms would be completely unacceptable for just network latency, but is pretty normal for streaming display latency, which includes the time required to capture, encode, transmit, decode, and display the game's picture.

[nineliex]

Originally posted by Vithigar:

Originally posted by NGY4M:

1. "With Powerline you're more or less at the mercy of the home wiring. Which basically is
'How much you're screwed depends on how drunk the electrician was' "

2. Powerline adds 20ms latency compared to lan cable.


While statement 1 is true, statement 2 is false as i manage to achieve <1ms.

The people saying they experience 20ms of latency over powerline are almost certainly talking about the Steam Link's display latency, and not just the network latency. You can see this number if you turn on performance stats in the streaming client settings and hit Start+Y on the controller to expand the extra detail. 20ms would be completely unacceptable for just network latency, but is pretty normal for streaming display latency, which includes the time required to capture, encode, transmit, decode, and display the game's picture.

Nope dude, try doing a quicksearch on powerline, people seem to be complaining about "additional" 20ms lag compared to lan cable. This was one of the main reason i hestitated when buying a powerline as it was said that wifi has better latency than powerline. Thats why i created this post to clear things up that some statements are not entirely true (: .

My friend owns a 200mbps powerline, if the demand is high, i will do a comparison between the 200mbps av1 vs the 1200mbps av2 mimo powerline kit. (video with connection info)

[bcursor]

Originally posted by NGY4M:

Originally posted by Vithigar:

The people saying they experience 20ms of latency over powerline are almost certainly talking about the Steam Link's display latency, and not just the network latency. You can see this number if you turn on performance stats in the streaming client settings and hit Start+Y on the controller to expand the extra detail. 20ms would be completely unacceptable for just network latency, but is pretty normal for streaming display latency, which includes the time required to capture, encode, transmit, decode, and display the game's picture.

Nope dude, try doing a quicksearch on powerline, people seem to be complaining about "additional" 20ms lag compared to lan cable. This was one of the main reason i hestitated when buying a powerline as it was said that wifi has better latency than powerline. Thats why i created this post to clear things up that some statements are not entirely true (: .

My friend owns a 200mbps powerline, if the demand is high, i will do a comparison between the 200mbps av1 vs the 1200mbps av2 mimo powerline kit. (video with connection info)

wifi latency much much higher than powerline adapter. there are also a lot of frame losts on wifi.

[Mdixson]

I have the tp-link av2 500mbps adapters. I find they work fine but over time (a week or so) I have to reboot them as they seem to introduce latency. OP do you experience this with the 1200 adapters?

[nineliex]

Originally posted by bcursor:

Originally posted by NGY4M:

Nope dude, try doing a quicksearch on powerline, people seem to be complaining about "additional" 20ms lag compared to lan cable. This was one of the main reason i hestitated when buying a powerline as it was said that wifi has better latency than powerline. Thats why i created this post to clear things up that some statements are not entirely true (: .

My friend owns a 200mbps powerline, if the demand is high, i will do a comparison between the 200mbps av1 vs the 1200mbps av2 mimo powerline kit. (video with connection info)

wifi latency much much higher than powerline adapter. there are also a lot of frame losts on wifi.

Again, not entirely true given the right router (Wireless 802.11ac 2x2 (MIMO) and the right condition. I manage to get a stable <1ms without packetloss for 2 hours straight with a 2.4ghz wifi. My computer is on the first floor. The problem with wifi is that, once it stutters, it freezes together with steam link. Or when multiple people are connected to it. Obviously, if you are using wifi connection for steam link , a single person streaming youtube will definitely ruin your experience.

Do note that my setup is wireless from
HOST PC > WIFI > ROUTER > LAN CABLE > STEAM LINK.
and
HOST PC > POWERLINE > ROUTER > LAN CABLE > STEAM LINK.

Also for some reason, before purchasing steam link and powerline. I did a test with my laptop connected:
HOST PC > WIFI > ROUTER > LAN CABLE > I5 LAPTOP >TV
There were multiple problems with this setup. There is always a slowdisplay message if the settings are cranked up to 1080p ( 'Show Only On Monitor 2' via Advance Windows 10 advanced display settings). I was forced to use 720p, any lower resolution above 720p does not work either. There is always constant packet loss all the time also.
I was suprised that switching to:
HOST PC > WIFI > ROUTER > LAN CABLE > STEAM LINK.
solved all of these problems for some reason. 1080p works fine, a better stable connection.

For those not using steam link, i hope this additional info helps you in some sort of way.

[nineliex]

Originally posted by Mdixson:

I have the tp-link av2 500mbps adapters. I find they work fine but over time (a week or so) I have to reboot them as they seem to introduce latency. OP do you experience this with the 1200 adapters?

Yes this is another common problem valve addressed. Apparently restarting BOTH the powerline solves the problem. I have yet to experience this problem since i am only one week into powerline. I will update you if i ever encounter this problem.

[Mdixson]

Originally posted by NGY4M:

Originally posted by Mdixson:

I have the tp-link av2 500mbps adapters. I find they work fine but over time (a week or so) I have to reboot them as they seem to introduce latency. OP do you experience this with the 1200 adapters?

Yes this is another common problem valve addressed. Apparently restarting BOTH the powerline solves the problem. I have yet to experience this problem since i am only one week into powerline. I will update you if i ever encounter this problem.

It does solve it - buts it's annoying as I have:
PC>powerline>ROUTER>powerline>steam link

So I have to restart 3 power lines which is annoying when you just want to sit and game.

[bcursor]

Originally posted by Mdixson:

Originally posted by NGY4M:

Yes this is another common problem valve addressed. Apparently restarting BOTH the powerline solves the problem. I have yet to experience this problem since i am only one week into powerline. I will update you if i ever encounter this problem.

It does solve it - buts it's annoying as I have:
PC>powerline>ROUTER>powerline>steam link

So I have to restart 3 power lines which is annoying when you just want to sit and game.

I don't have this problem.

[ReBoot]

I had similar problems. I had to restart my PLC adaptors when i wanted to play. Tue solution was to disable the power save mode for my PLC adaptors. Apparently, Steam IHS is too gentle to wake them up.

[Dalthor]

Thanks for the post, it might get me into buying the same Powerline as you.

I currently have D-link 200 mbs powerline, and about every 10 seconds the game stutters for a second (FPS stay at 60, but red and blue lines on the graph go from 15-30ms to 150-200ms).
Wifi in my case is even worse, as my internet provider has the worst routers for Wifi it seems, in terms of range and disconnecting (LAN however is working flawless).

Did someone have the same problem and solve it with better powerline adapters?

My host PC is i5 6600, r9 390, 8GB ram, and my TV is 720p data transfer shouldnt be a problem, and that is why I believe it is network.

[bcursor]

Originally posted by Dalthor:

Thanks for the post, it might get me into buying the same Powerline as you.

I currently have D-link 200 mbs powerline, and about every 10 seconds the game stutters for a second (FPS stay at 60, but red and blue lines on the graph go from 15-30ms to 150-200ms).
Wifi in my case is even worse, as my internet provider has the worst routers for Wifi it seems, in terms of range and disconnecting (LAN however is working flawless).

Did someone have the same problem and solve it with better powerline adapters?

My host PC is i5 6600, r9 390, 8GB ram, and my TV is 720p data transfer shouldnt be a problem, and that is why I believe it is network.

I had stutter problem also. In Steam in-home streaming settings, I changed my bandwith limit from 20mbps to Automatic. It solved my issue. You can try different bandwith settings.