# Please Help with my Networking Nightmare! :( Looking at Powerline/HomePlug



## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

We are going to be moving house soon, and we are going from a cable are to a non cable area and the network locations are all going to be totally different.

At our current house, we have the cable modem, going into a wireless router, and Cat5 cables running to all the PC's/consoles as they are 2 rooms with all network devices, next to each other. Simple.

At the place we are hopefully moving too, My room and the telephone socket are at opposite ends of the house.  Thankfully my dad's PC will be setup next to the phone socket, so it just leaves the trouble of getting my Xbox 360 and my PC serup in my room.

Wireless is not an option, but the house has recently been re-wired, so I was looking at using Powerline/Homeplug products to get my 360 and PC connected.
All the providers we have looked at going through will give us a wireless router with 4 ports for ethernet.
I want/need the fastest connection speeds possible, and I need to be able to stream HD video from my PC to 360.

Now my original plan was to get this:
http://www.connectplayentertain.co.uk/product.php?id=4
Along with these
http://www.connectplayentertain.co.uk/product_ajax.php?id=13

That way seems the simplest to me, but it also seems the most expensive. I cant seemto find any 200Mbps Homeplug devices with more than one Ethernet socket. 

Otherwise is it possible, just to get these:
http://www.connectplayentertain.co.uk/product_ajax.php?id=13
And then "split" the ethernet connection in my room for one to PC, one to 360. is that possible? Will it degrade performance?

Or my third and final idea, was to get 4 hoemplug adaptors, two to bridge the connection for the 360 and two for the PC.

Let me know what you guys think,

Cheers.



UPDATE:

I have drawn up some network diags fo the ideas I have had, let me know what you think. Will they work? or anyone else got any other ideas?

Cheers.


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

alexp999 said:


> We are going to be moving house soon, and we are going from a cable are to a non cable area and the network locations are all going to be totally different.
> 
> At our current house, we have the cable modem, going into a wireless router, and Cat5 cables running to all the PC's/consoles as they are 2 rooms with all network devices, next to each other. Simple.
> 
> ...


Home plug typically isn't worth it. A good wireless N setup will easily out perform it, and should also have enough bandwidth to stream HD.


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

I have drawn up some network diags fo the ideas I have had, let me know what you think. Will they work? or anyone else got any other ideas?

Cheers.


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Wile E said:


> Home plug typically isn't worth it. A good wireless N setup will easily out perform it, and should also have enough bandwidth to stream HD.



Wouldnt that be more expensive? I'm gonna need:

Wireless N-router
Wireless N adaptor for PC
Wireless N Network Bridge of 360. (Cus official adapot doesnt support N, right?)

Thanks.


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

alexp999 said:


> Wouldnt that be more expensive? I'm gonna need:
> 
> Wireless N-router
> Wireless N adaptor for PC
> ...



Possibly, but unfortunately, most home plug setups don't even offer wireless G Throughput in real world usage.

EDIT: Here's a tpu review of a 200Mbps home plug setup. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AirLive/HP-3000E/4.html


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

Wait, are the 360 and your computer in the same room?


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Wile E said:


> Wait, are the 360 and your computer in the same room?



Yep. Thats why I didnt know if there was a better way of doing it (Like Option C). But I always thought you needed one ethernet cable per device from the main router.


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

alexp999 said:


> Yep. Thats why I didnt know if there was a better way of doing it (Like Option C). But I always thought you needed one ethernet cable per device from the main router.



If your internet provider will give a wireless router, all you need to do is get a wireless bridge in your room for the internet, and a wired router to connect to the bridge. Then you connect your PC and the 360 bot to the wired router.

The other option, and the one I would take, is to buy a Linksys WRT54 router, and flash it with the DD-WRT firmware, and use it in bridge mode. That way you can skip having to buy the wired router. The downside is, flashing to DD-WRT voids the warranty.


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Wile E said:


> If your internet provider will give a wireless router, all you need to do is get a wireless bridge in your room for the internet, and a wired router to connect to the bridge. Then you connect your PC and the 360 bot to the wired router.
> 
> The other option, and the one I would take, is to buy a Linksys WRT54 router, and flash it with the DD-WRT firmware, and use it in bridge mode. That way you can skip having to buy the wired router. The downside is, flashing to DD-WRT voids the warranty.



So, does that mean option C of my diagrams would work then?

I need to be able to stream Hd from my PC to 360 and they are in the same room.

So if I'm getting it right, the wired router would handle the streaming at 100mbps, and then Powerline or wireless would only handle the wireless?

I think i would rather have the powerline option. Wont it provide better performance than Wirless G?

Thanks so much for your help.


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

alexp999 said:


> So, does that mean option C of my diagrams would work then?
> 
> I need to be able to stream Hd from my PC to 360 and they are in the same room.
> 
> ...


No, it won't provide better performance than wireless G.

TPU's review of a 200Mbps Powerline setup: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AirLive/HP-3000E/4.html

All you need the wireless for is the internet. You internet is already slower than wireless G anyway. There's no performance benefit to getting a faster connection to your modem anyway.

Getting the free wireless router from your provider, and flashing a WRT54 with DD-WRT is your best, and most cost effective solution, short of hardwiring your ethernet in the house.


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Wile E said:


> No, it won't provide better performance than wireless G.
> 
> TPU's review of a 200Mbps Powerline setup: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AirLive/HP-3000E/4.html
> 
> ...



Only reason I didnt really want wireless is cus I have had experience with it in past, and wanted something a bit more stable and secure. I already have an old 4 port broadband ethernet router. Could that be used to "split" the connection in my room? or do you need a special switch or something.


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## cdawall (Sep 8, 2008)

get a gaming adapter you can do wireless N into your room and form the adapter split it off to the PC/360


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...apter&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1197679244403



alexp999 said:


> Only reason I didnt really want wireless is cus I have had experience with it in past, and wanted something a bit more stable and secure. I already have an old 4 port broadband ethernet router. Could that be used to "split" the connection in my room? or do you need a special switch or something.



well powerline sucks and wireless is better than powerline any day. if you setup your wireless right it is secure and it is stable mine is WPA encrypted and G125 it gets the whole house and i have never had an issue were it went out


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

otherwise, would this work:

http://www.netgear.co.uk/wallplugged_switch_xe104.php

Although its only 85Mbps (not true, I know) but it should be fast enough for internet yeah? And seeing as its a switch, will it be able to stream Hd content form my Pc to 360?

Thanks.


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

alexp999 said:


> Only reason I didnt really want wireless is cus I have had experience with it in past, and wanted something a bit more stable and secure. I already have an old 4 port broadband ethernet router. Could that be used to "split" the connection in my room? or do you need a special switch or something.


Yeah, you can use it for your PC and 360. If it's only a wired router (no wireless), the only obstacle left would be to get the Internet to the router. In which case, all you need is something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16873999102

If it is a wireless router, it may already support DD-WRT, and you wouldn't need anything else.

Again, I point to wireless, just because you can get a free wireless router from your provider. It would make things way cheaper.


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Wile E said:


> Yeah, you can use it for your PC and 360. If it's only a wired router (no wireless), the only obstacle left would be to get the Internet to the router. In which case, all you need is something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16873999102
> 
> If it is a wireless router, it may already support DD-WRT, and you wouldn't need anything else.
> 
> Again, I point to wireless, just because you can get a free wireless router from your provider. It would make things way cheaper.



Well the wireless router we have atm is this one:

http://www.usr.com/support/product-template.asp?prod=5461

And I also have an old wired 4 port router.

Basically, I just need to get internet from one end of the house to the other for the PC and 360. But also be able to have my PC and 360 "talk" between each other in my room, and stream HD video.


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

alexp999 said:


> Well the wireless router we have atm is this one:
> 
> http://www.usr.com/products/networking/wireless-product.asp?sku=USR5465
> 
> ...


All you need is a wireless gaming adapter, like the one I linked. You set it up to receive the signal from your main router, plug it into the WAN port of the wired router in your room, then plug your computer and 360 into the LAN ports of your wired router.


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Wile E said:


> All you need is a wireless gaming adapter, like the one I linked. You set it up to receive the signal from your main router, plug it into the WAN port of the wired router in your room, then plug your computer and 360 into the LAN ports of your wired router.



just seen that my US Robotics Wireless router is on the support list on the DD-WRT website.

Does that mean I can use their firmware and turn my existing wirless router into a receiver and router all in one?

I.e Cost me nothing.


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

alexp999 said:


> just seen that my US Robotics Wireless router is on the support list on the DD-WRT website.
> 
> Does that mean I can use their firmware and turn my existing wirless router into a receiver and router all in one?
> 
> I.e Cost me nothing.


Yes.

That's if you get the router from your service provider.


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Wile E said:


> Yes.
> 
> That's if you get the router from your service provider.



This is the router we will be getting. Supports N too! 

http://www.broadband.bt.com/newhub

And then all I do is flash the router I have now with DD-WRT firmware and then it can be used to receive wireless and route it to the PC and 360 yeah/

So its not gonna cost me anything to set up!


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

alexp999 said:


> This is the router we will be getting. Supports N too!
> 
> http://www.broadband.bt.com/newhub
> 
> ...



See, all that stress for nothing. lol.

But you may want to check your router before you flash it. A rare few support acting as a bridge, straight out of the box.


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Wile E said:


> See, all that stress for nothing. lol.
> 
> But you may want to check your router before you flash it. A rare few support acting as a bridge, straight out of the box.



So basically you are just changing it from the wireless being an output to an input?
And the wireless connection will act like the WAN connection?

How can I tell if it supports being a bridge out of the box?

This is my routers product page:

http://www.usr.com/support/product-template.asp?prod=5461

Thanks


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Just found this (about half way down). Its the user manual:

http://www.usr.com/support/5461/5461-ug/wireless.html

Says about a Bridge mode. Is that what you were talking about? (meaning i dont need to flash?)


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## Wile E (Sep 8, 2008)

alexp999 said:


> So basically you are just changing it from the wireless being an output to an input?
> And the wireless connection will act like the WAN connection?
> 
> How can I tell if it supports being a bridge out of the box?
> ...


It supports being a bridge out of the box. You're set to go.

If it doesn't perform up to snuff, throw DD-WRT on it. Or just throw it on there anyway, if you feel like tinkering.


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## alexp999 (Sep 8, 2008)

Wile E said:


> It supports being a bridge out of the box. You're set to go.
> 
> If it doesn't perform up to snuff, throw DD-WRT on it. Or just throw it on there anyway, if you feel like tinkering.



Cool, thanks so much for your help. you just saved me a lot of money!

We should be moving in the next 1-2months. So I'll be back, and wanting your help getting it set up then. 

Thanks again!


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