So an update on my story of a couple of weeks back examining home plugs real world performance which lead me to the conclusion that they were just short of being up to the job of streaming HD content around the home, a shame for sure as they are a highly convenient way of setting up a wired network without needing the wires, and for some people encoding your videos in a lower bitrate would solve most of the issues but i didn’t want to compromise at all so a wired gigabit network gets the green light.
Before I installed the gigabit network I did a simple test to check the before and after results and to do this I used a small file which you can download here, it’s a 1080p video with a lot of detail and tops out over 115mb/s.
So the first test shows the home plugs starting to stream the file then as expected the video freezes and it was all over in a second.
I removed the home plugs and unboxed the gigabit switch, connected it to the Windows Home Server, the green light lit up on the home server connection which tells you it’s a gigabit connection and an orange light for the connection to the adsl modem which as expected was a 100mb/s connection, all fine so far, next the hard part, well it would have been except I know this handy man with ladders who I managed to get to install my cat5E cable from the cupboard downstairs out the wall, up the drainpipe all nicely tucked behind out of site and then over the roof, down the drain pipe at the front of the house, underground along the front of the house, then up into the living room with the Sky HD cabling, all nice and neat and out of site. (WAF Nirvana)
I plugged in the RJ45 connector and what a big relief, green light on the router, I was very concerned that I may have damaged the cable especially the underground part but all was good.
I fired up the Popcorn Hour and selected the same file and this time the result was fantastic, perfect silky smooth video streaming from the WHS at 117mb/s in places, testing full Blu-Ray backups everyone streamed perfectly.
Conclusion, wired is the way to go, there really is no substitute!!
Agreed! I have 3 of those exact same Netgear switches connecting my home network, and I absolutely love gigabit. My router is also gigabit, and moving DVD’s from my PC to WHS, and streaming HD video from my WHS to Media Center PC works flawlessly. No stuttering or disconnects or any other issues whatsoever. It’s like going from dial-up to high-speed internet (in both terms of speed and reliability). My router is also wireless N, and even N doesn’t hold a candle to wired gigabit in my opinion. I’d definitely recommend going wired if you’re able to!
I have to put in a counter arguement. I have been using the devolo 200Mb home plug adapters for some months with no issues what so every.
Although it does depend on what the wireing is like in your house.
Although I am happy to admit a gig abit wired network would be far better, but not everyone is lucky enough (or have understanding spouse ;-)) to install gigabit wiring. In which case home plug is a vairable al;ternative in my opionin
It’s no good you’ve convinced me. I’m just going to have to find a way to wire up. Connected via Cat5 temporarliy, my media center PC streams blue ray ISO’s great from my WHS. I just can’t get anything else to work reliably. I’ve even bought a Belkin Gigabit Powerline HD Kit but I still get stuttering. It’s driving me absolutely crazy.
This and our twitter chats have definitely swayed me, I’m going to have to look at putting CAT5E in this weekend, the homeplugs just aren’t up to the job in my house unfortunately.
I have 3 media nodes (each have an Apple TV and Xbox 360 connected via a switch) in my home, all hooked up via devolo AV200 homeplug devices (including the mdeia server) – and can stream HD video without issue (both iTunes material live TV (SD and HD) and Xbox HD formats)…
They have been a great solution to cutting up the walls and laying in trunking to get ethernet all over the house – I get around 145Mbps at all nodes consistently.
I am tempted to try the new belkin gigabit over powerline system – but only so I know I have more headroom 🙂
I here really bad things about the Belkin 1 Gbps plugs, also your 145Mbps maybe between the plugs but they only accept 100mbps input so thats not a true figure, try streaming a high quality 1080P high bitrate blu-ray rip and I would imagine you will find it stutters or try the file I mentioned in the article, I am not down on homeplugs I just don’t think they cut it at the highest level.
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Before I installed the gigabit network I did a simple test to check the before and after results and to do this I used a small file which you can download here, it’s a 1080p video with a lot of detail and tops out over 115mb/s.
Agreed! I have 3 of those exact same Netgear switches connecting my home network, and I absolutely love gigabit. My router is also gigabit, and moving DVD’s from my PC to WHS, and streaming HD video from my WHS to Media Center PC works flawlessly. No stuttering or disconnects or any other issues whatsoever. It’s like going from dial-up to high-speed internet (in both terms of speed and reliability). My router is also wireless N, and even N doesn’t hold a candle to wired gigabit in my opinion. I’d definitely recommend going wired if you’re able to!
Glad you got it all wired up so neatly and it scored such high WAF.
I have to put in a counter arguement. I have been using the devolo 200Mb home plug adapters for some months with no issues what so every.
Although it does depend on what the wireing is like in your house.
Although I am happy to admit a gig abit wired network would be far better, but not everyone is lucky enough (or have understanding spouse ;-)) to install gigabit wiring. In which case home plug is a vairable al;ternative in my opionin
It’s no good you’ve convinced me. I’m just going to have to find a way to wire up. Connected via Cat5 temporarliy, my media center PC streams blue ray ISO’s great from my WHS. I just can’t get anything else to work reliably. I’ve even bought a Belkin Gigabit Powerline HD Kit but I still get stuttering. It’s driving me absolutely crazy.
This and our twitter chats have definitely swayed me, I’m going to have to look at putting CAT5E in this weekend, the homeplugs just aren’t up to the job in my house unfortunately.
I have 3 media nodes (each have an Apple TV and Xbox 360 connected via a switch) in my home, all hooked up via devolo AV200 homeplug devices (including the mdeia server) – and can stream HD video without issue (both iTunes material live TV (SD and HD) and Xbox HD formats)…
They have been a great solution to cutting up the walls and laying in trunking to get ethernet all over the house – I get around 145Mbps at all nodes consistently.
I am tempted to try the new belkin gigabit over powerline system – but only so I know I have more headroom 🙂
sTeVE
I here really bad things about the Belkin 1 Gbps plugs, also your 145Mbps maybe between the plugs but they only accept 100mbps input so thats not a true figure, try streaming a high quality 1080P high bitrate blu-ray rip and I would imagine you will find it stutters or try the file I mentioned in the article, I am not down on homeplugs I just don’t think they cut it at the highest level.
Chris