Got connected to O2 today

[jemmy]

Originally Posted by Saturday

A pair of Homeplugs (~£50) will give you the performance of an ethernet cable, without the cable.

Homeplugs sound like a better option, that way I could move the router to the master socket and have one home plug for pc and other for ps3. Do you know which is a reliable brand for the homeplugs?

[Saturday]

I get the impression that they're all pretty much the same. Don't pay extra for the highest speed versions if all you need is to handle internet speeds. I'd suggest you go on price qualified by user review.

If you want to connect two devices to the router via Homeplugs you'll either need 3 of them or two plus a hub/switch - or maybe they do a version with more than one ethernet port? Sorry, I don't have personal experience so can't advise..

[Undecided adrian]

I wouldn't touch Netgear they were slow getting firmware updates out there and user technical support is horrible.

Get 85 meg/sec ones, there is the Negear one that has a built in switch but it is a bit chunky and is fiddly getting all the cables in.

You can just connect up a normal ethernet switch (about £10 on ebay) which menas you'll only need 1 homeplug per room you want to have devices in.

The Belkin ones look nice, a lot of them have a big plug which to put the ethernet cable in which takes up 2 sockets on a gang of 4. the Belkin has a normal plug and has the ethernet connector in a block which is connected to the plug via a lead.

If I was going to re-do the plugs, I would go for these:

dabs.com - Belkin Powerline Turbo Networking Adapter 85 Mbps - 2-Pack (F5D4071UK)

and then a switch is cheap enough from Ebay

Hope that helps

[jemmy]

Originally Posted by Undecided adrian

Get 85 meg/sec ones, there is the Negear one that has a built in switch but it is a bit chunky and is fiddly getting all the cables in.

You can just connect up a normal ethernet switch (about £10 on ebay) which menas you'll only need 1 homeplug per room you want to have devices in.

The Belkin ones look nice, a lot of them have a big plug which to put the ethernet cable in which takes up 2 sockets on a gang of 4. the Belkin has a normal plug and has the ethernet connector in a block which is connected to the plug via a lead.

If I was going to re-do the plugs, I would go for these:

dabs.com - Belkin Powerline Turbo Networking Adapter 85 Mbps - 2-Pack (F5D4071UK)

and then a switch is cheap enough from Ebay

Hope that helps

I like the idea of having the bulky portion away from the socket so it does not obstruct other switches but the picture seems to show European sockets on dabs.com. Did you buy from dabs? Also wondering if 200MBPS ones will be better investment in long run as my main purpose is to achieve stable gaming & steaming media to my ps3 from PC.

[Undecided adrian]

The picture was taken from the Belkin website which only has the US plugs on them.

You could phone Dabs up and ask them about how they are connected, the Belkin part number has a UK at the end so they are made for this country.

As for 200 meg/sec ones unless you have a gigabit network (1000 meg/sec network cards and switch) there isn't much point, my 85 meg/sec ones can happily stream HD movies onto the Xbox from my PC and gets full ethernet speed to the wife's laptop.

Don't forget you link to the internet is a lot less than that anyways.

[trebor27]

Wow after reading this thread I have hard wired into my O2 box and am now getting 12Mbps, instead of 8-10Mps over wireless "g", doing the thinkbroadband speedtest....

Excellent tip! Thanks!

[jemmy]

Originally Posted by Undecided adrian

my 85 meg/sec ones can happily stream HD movies onto the Xbox from my PC and gets full ethernet speed to the wife's laptop.

Thanks, that is quite reassuring, otherwise, all the videos I shot with my HD camcorder wont stream and would have made me a very unhappy man. Will call dabs tomorrow morning to check about the homeplugs.