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Upgrade advice

TheManWhoBuiltTheMoon

TheManWhoBuiltTheMoon

pfm Member
I’ve recently upgraded my internet to 1gb and have realise some of my hardware isn’t up to the task. I’ve already ordered cat8 Ethernet cables but I’m looking for suggestions on an upgrade to the TP power link boxes I use. The current ones can not handle the new internet.
 
I ditched my powerlink adapters a while back reasoning that wi-fi had gotten so good as to make them unnecessary. Apart from the Pi streamer at the opposite end of the house everything worked just fine, and I sorted the Pi with an old USB adapter I had lying around. You probably don't need Cat 8 - cat 6 or even cat 5e will do the job. Is your cat 8 proper copper or CCA?
 
fiveamp said:
I ditched my powerlink adapters a while back reasoning that wi-fi had gotten so good as to make them unnecessary. Apart from the Pi streamer at the opposite end of the house everything worked just fine, and I sorted the Pi with an old USB adapter I had lying around. You probably don't need Cat 8 - cat 6 or even cat 5e will do the job. Is your cat 8 proper copper or CCA?
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I need the Powerlinks for the PC and kids Xbox upstairs. The cables are (it says) pure copper.
 
I'm not a fan of those powerline adapters from TP-Link and others, they inject a lot of noise into the mains. If you can its really best to run a cable all the way. They do a flat cat7 cable which is ok up to 10Gbps, easier to run under carpets and door frames.

If you really must use a powerline adapter the NETGEAR PLP1000-100UKS supports 1Gbps. As long as your mains wiring is top notch and theirs not too much existing mains noise from other devices it should be ok. 1 tip you may already know, plug them directly into the mains socket not at the end of extension leads, mains conditioners etc.
 
JohnyT said:
I'm not a fan of those powerline adapters from TP-Link and others, they inject a lot of noise into the mains. If you can its really best to run a cable all the way. They do a flat cat7 cable which is ok up to 10Gbps, easier to run under carpets and door frames.

If you really must use a powerline adapter the NETGEAR PLP1000-100UKS supports 1Gbps. As long as your mains wiring is top notch and theirs not too much existing mains noise from other devices it should be ok. 1 tip you may already know, plug them directly into the mains socket not at the end of extension leads, mains conditioners etc.
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I already have flat cables on all the connections. I need the power lines for the upstairs as it’s a bit too much to run three Ethernet cables up there
 
You could get some mesh WiFi APs. Might be cheaper or about same price as the extenders. They will give you the speeds you want. You connect the 1st one to your existing router (disable WiFi on the router) and away you go. You can even connect your Xbox with ethernet to one of the APs. You don't need Cat8 for 1Gbps. Cat 6 was the industry standard for years for 1Gbps throughput. In fact, your limiting factor might be the router, depending how old it is.
 
tricky1 said:
You could get some mesh WiFi APs.
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I would second this.

tricky1 said:
You don't need Cat8 for 1Gbps. Cat 6 was the industry standard for years for 1Gbps throughput. In fact, your limiting factor might be the router, depending how old it is.
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And this. I’m doing the same upgrade and have been reading about various options. I’m replacing some 5e with 6, but it isn’t clear that there much benefit there over short distances - at least for basic traffic. Cat 7 looks unwieldy so I can only imagine cat 8.

TheManWhoBuiltTheMoon said:
I already have flat cables on all the connections
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It sounds like some cable might already be installed downstairs, and the cat 8 is patch cables? Or are you replacing whatever is installed with cat 8? If so, what is installed now?
 
I would avoid the cheaper wifi mesh. I tried the lower end model of the Netgear Orbi here a couple years ago. Whilst it gave an excellent coverage which would be good enough for most people, my daughters kept complaining their ping had gone up for games, fortnite and so on.
They might be better now, firmware update, newer models but at the time we tried all we could and it just wasn't worth the tantrums I was getting.
 
The router is the virgin hub4 it only arrrived at the weekend. Wi-Fi speed on my phone from it was 400mb. All my cables are 5e. My old power lines could only handle 500mb which is my reason for wanting to change them and get the most from my internet speed upgrade.
 
If you’re getting those speeds I strongly suggest getting rid of powerlines and going WiFi only. Surely the X Box and PC will run fast enough. Your system will thank you. Mine did.
 
The BT mesh systems seem to work very well as reported by quite a few hifi users. Far less hassle than very long cable runs. In many houses it’s just not practical
 
My experience of power line adapters (TP link) is that regardless of the claim in the front (1gb etc) the actual transfer speed is abysmal. 200mb at best

I realised this with total inescapable truth when I installed my sons gaming pc. And when I researched properly online I realised it wasn’t me. It’s the kit.

mesh from BT works really well for me but my house is well shaped for it. Eero is better if your house isn’t.

better still is to run Ethernet cables to points j your house where you can install different routers. There are many that can be configured with the same network name and password without messing up, so your connection can move from one to another.

your best speed will always be via an Ethernet straight into a router. But Wi-Fi is faster than powerline which does not do what it says on the tin.

Hope that helps.
 
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