My Powerline Ethernet Experience

[Concordion2k]

I was using powerline ethernet adapters for my Steam Link to connect, via hardwire, to my router upstairs, to which my PC was also hardwired. For a long time, performance was swell!

When my wife and I moved to a new house, I set up the configuration in the same manner, and again, things worked well - for a time. Soon, audio lag set in, and when there was noise on the circuit, or a thunderstorm outside, the stream would get interrupted.

So, I tried an experiment - I'll leave the PC hardwired into my router, and connect the Steam Link to an 802.11ac network that only it can access. After setting this up last night, there were no stream interruptions, and virtually zero audio lag. I was playing for about 5-6 hours straight.

I know this is anecdotal, but I really did notice a big improvement with this new setup. I'll update this thread over time if my experience changes.

Anyone else try this setup with any success?

My router: TP-LINK AC3200

[EdgarFriendly]

My PC is hard wirred. I have two Links. One is hard wired, the other is AC wifi. I tried powerline adapters on the wifi one and performance was bad from the start. I know it depends on the house wiring, and everyone will have a different experience. The AC wifi is good enough. I'm pretty picky about picutre quality. Less busy games I stream at 1080p on Beautiful. Games with lots of action (racing games) I switch to 720p to reduce the artifacts.

Still, I'm quite impressed how well it performs on wifi.

[Concordion2k]

So far im able to stream all my games at 1080p, which is nice.

[Sleepy205]

First of, what Powerline adapter are you using? These days it is highly recommended you get Powerline adapters that are MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) if you ever plan on streaming. A lot of Powerline adapters are SISO (single input, single output).

Plus the performance behind Powerline greatly varies depending on the house wiring. If your house wiring isn't good the performance won't be good either.

[Merl]

I echo what has previously been said. I know I had issues with powerline Ethernet at my previous address so when I moved house I chased network cable into all the rooms before decorating. I was not getting anywhere near the speeds advertised for the adapters and I can only blame the house wiring. I always tell people to invest with caution with Ethernet over power.

[Concordion2k]

Originally posted by Trumpet205:

First of, what Powerline adapter are you using? These days it is highly recommended you get Powerline adapters that are MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) if you ever plan on streaming. A lot of Powerline adapters are SISO (single input, single output).

Plus the performance behind Powerline greatly varies depending on the house wiring. If your house wiring isn't good the performance won't be good either.

I was using a generic TP-Link adapter, TL-PA4010, 500mbps. Not sure if it was full duplex or half.

[Sleepy205]

Originally posted by Concordion2k:

I was using a generic TP-Link adapter, TL-PA4010, 500mbps. Not sure if it was full duplex or half.

That's a SISO Powerline Adapter. In fact older one based on Homeplug AV 1.

Example of MIMO Powerline Adapter: TP Link PA8010P, D-Link DH-701AV, Treadnet TPL-420E2K.

Another alternative to Powerline (cause it looks like your house electrical wiring is bad) would be MoCA. MoCA uses Coaxial Cable instead. Actiontec is the only manufactuer these days that manufactures consumer MoCA equipment.

But if you like the performance of wireless, you can always stick with that!