Tired of having inconsistent wireless signal strength in a few parts of the house.

I was going to look into just an extender since the house is only 1200sqft but we will be moving in a few months to a new home that is about 2800sqft.

So while I was researching extenders I came across the "ethernet over powerline" equipment. Seems like this would be the better solution.

Does anyone have any experience with this?
Is it as fast/good as having dedicated network cabling routed throughout the house?
Will need to be good for gaming and HD streaming on multiple devices.

Thanks!

Nothing will ever beat cat5/6 cabling run throughout the house. But, I have used the "Ethernet over Powerline" for several years now in my house. Just been to busy/lazy to run the cat6 cable. It has worked fine for me and I have cut the cable and everything goes through my router if I want to stream movies etc. I have 3 Roku's connected over the powerline equipment and have no issues.

I just replaced my 1st set of adapters (Powerline 1200 AV2 Adapter Kit with Built-in Outlet) because they started dropping connections. I just replaced them (mid Feb.) with TP-Link AV2000 Powerline Adapter. So far so good. They seem to be very solid and have not had any issues so far. Very easy, plug and play setup. Would suggest to buy in packs of 2 because one will be used to connect your router to the powerline network. So depending on how many you want to use to attach devices to, you will need at least 1 extra.

Good alternative, and works for me without hassle.

I have used the Netgear PoweLine for some years and it worked very well...mine re older and I never got more than 100 mbps from it, but they still work >10 yrs later (I one pair still in use as I have a non wifi printer).

That being said I'd think of what you are going to want in your new space and buy it now. I just bought the Orbi Mesh wifi router from Netgear and I am super happy with it. One station downstairs, the other up. All good.

JB

Like Jimbo said, you may be better off looking at your wireless setup. I've got great speed throughout a three story, 4500 sq ft home using the eero mesh network. One base station with one extender and the internet works great. At least 80mbps everywhere.

At two of my adjacent properties, I provide the internet with another eero setup. I paid for internet in one house, and use the mesh wireless to extend it to both. Everybody seems happy.

I second the Orbi Mesh. Works great on my three levels, no complaints. I purchased the set with one router and two satellites. Router is upstairs in the office. Main floor and the lower level.

I have the Zyxel Pass-Thru Ethernet Adapter AV2000 Powerline 2-port Gigabit 2-Pack and it works perfectly for my needs.

I have a FiOS line coming in through from my garage into the kitchen, where my router and wi-fi are set up. I set up one unit there. In another part of the house (about 1,500 sq. ft.) I have Ethernet-based security cameras feeding into the NVR (recorder). I have connected the NVR to the other unit, and I am able to view my camera feeds from anywhere.

Truthfully, I haven't seen gigabit speeds, but then everything else I do (smart appliances, TV, computers, tablets) is over wi-fi, so the best I get is usually about 300 mpbs, anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by Jamess1:
I second the Orbi Mesh. Works great on my three levels, no complaints. I purchased the set with one router and two satellites. Router is upstairs in the office. Main floor and the lower level.

Same here - I have the 3 unit setup. i have one unit in the east side of my house, one on the west side and one in an outside garage. Lots of coverage and n ever a dropped signal.

I just installed an Eero mesh wi-if system, now sold by Amazon. One router and two “Beacons” which are small and plug directly into an outlet. Very easy to install. I now feel I will have no issues with Wi-Fi signal, including outdoors on the patio and in the garage.

IIRC asked the same question a while back here and was advised that it wasn't the best option,

Ended up with an ORBI, woot has them on sale from time to time, Costco sells the one and two satellite systems.

Since you are moving to a much larger home the mesh network will help there as well...

I use Comcast for phone and internet and believe as a result am stuck with the Comcast modem. Will a mesh system work to its full potential with the Comcast modem, or do you all spring for a separate modem?

You are not stuck using a Comcast modem. You can use any brand cable modem. The procedure is you hook up the new modem and call comcast to give them the new MAC address on the modem. They then push a profile update to the modem and you are good to go.

If you want to keep using the Comcast equipment and your modem doubles as a router you need to verify that any mesh satellites will work wit hthe router.

quote:

Originally posted by Tgrshrk99:
I use Comcast for phone and internet and believe as a result am stuck with the Comcast modem. Will a mesh system work to its full potential with the Comcast modem, or do you all spring for a separate modem?

I also like the Orbi mesh setup. I have the router and two satellites spread somewhat far from each other and the wifi is good everywhere in the house.

quote:

Originally posted by daikyu:
You are not stuck using a Comcast modem. You can use any brand cable modem. The procedure is you hook up the new modem and call comcast to give them the new MAC address on the modem. They then push a profile update to the modem and you are good to go.

If you want to keep using the Comcast equipment and your modem doubles as a router you need to verify that any mesh satellites will work wit hthe router.

quote:

Originally posted by Tgrshrk99:
I use Comcast for phone and internet and believe as a result am stuck with the Comcast modem. Will a mesh system work to its full potential with the Comcast modem, or do you all spring for a separate modem?

I wasn’t aware of a modem with VoIP for sale. I’ve searched and haven’t found any. What do you recommend? Thanks.

I was never impressed by it the time I tried it.

Wireless repeaters and extenders have gotten a whole lot better in just the past 2-3 years, I'd stick with them.

Right now we are on Xfinity, I believe we currently have 300Mbps.

Was also going to start looking into buying a modem/router instead of renting one from Xfinity.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo Jones:
I have used the Netgear PoweLine for some years and it worked very well...mine re older and I never got more than 100 mbps from it, but they still work >10 yrs later (I one pair still in use as I have a non wifi printer).

That being said I'd think of what you are going to want in your new space and buy it now. I just bought the Orbi Mesh wifi router from Netgear and I am super happy with it. One station downstairs, the other up. All good.

JB

Thanks, looks like everyone else agrees with you.

This looks like it would be a great way to go and it seems the only bottleneck could be the ISP speed?

To answer your direct question directly: When I looked into Ethernet over Powerline adapters a year ago or so, my research indicated Comtrend G.hn devices appeared to have the most stable, dependable performance. Others were faster--when they worked, but Comtrend's G.hn technology was the most robust.

Our ranch home is a bit over 1300 sqft., with a basement. Small as it is, it can be challenging--for both WiFi and powerline. We have a lot of electronics in the house and the wall between the original part of the house and the family room has foil-backed insulation in it.

I tested a pair of Comtrend Ethernet powerline bridges pretty extensively. Even placed at the ends of what I know to be our longest and noisiest branch circuits, even with one of them on a branch circuit out in the µBarn, about 60-70' behind the house, I got reliable, nearly error-free connections at a minimum of 90mb/s.

The WiFi coverage issues I solved by putting a good Wifi Access Point smack in the middle of the home, in the ceiling. We get excellent wall-to-wall, corner-to-corner coverage--even into the far corners of the basement, out on the patio in back, and even in the attached garage.

Re: Mesh wireless networking. I'd put WiFi access points in multiple locations, hard-wired back to an Ethernet switch, before I'd do that. I've seen more cases of mesh networks resulting in more wonky network behaviour than any other.

Powerline adapters will work, but they have limitations. One consideration is how your home is wired. Some older homes pose internal wiring limitations that present slower service and high noise. MESH setups are always an option. I've installed a couple different systems and they seem to work just fine.

Personally I still think an ethernet wired access point (WAP) is still the best of all possible solutions, 'if' you're willing to run some CAT5/6 cable. I have 'one' WAP on the ceiling of my family room in the center of a 2500 square foot single story home, and have five bars of WiFi service everywhere in the house running at 100mb down (service limitation). That service even extends to my patio and most of my yard. And best of all, that WAP is ~$60 plus the cost of ethernet cable.

Your can get a private modem to work with Comcast voip but I would not advise it. If you have a problem Comcast will just blame your equipment and tell you too bad.


You can just plug in a mesh system to the modem. I use tp-link, but any will work.

You can get a set up that will cover 5500 sq feet for $150.

Check amazon for tp-link deco M4 or M5 three pack

It uses an cell phone app to set up, took me about 10 min for each node to get set up.

I tried several of those systems for years (Netgear, etc.).

Best (and faster) solution for me was a mesh system. I just happened to get the Google WiFi system from Costco. Works fabulous, easy to set up, and speed is 200mbps everywhere (capped at the speed of my incoming internet from my internet provider). Orbi is also rated highly.