powerline adapter vs WIFI... using the revue

ok so here is the deal, i decided to pickup some of those Powerline adapters cheap. 50 or so bucks for a kit... i was going to invest in a new wifi router... but.. i forgot to take into account my comcast connection only allows me.. 6 mbps down.. so even with this huge network increase speed.
i was getting a good connection at 56mbps, now im getting just about 100mbps.. with the powerline... im not sure what the advantage is.. i will say the audio is much nicer.. just much better resoultion... and when connecting to net flix.. the picture seem to have better detail.. youtube not near as flaky,, but its the same 6mbps.. i tested it at speakeasy and sure enough.. 6mbps.. same as wifi... but it seems the connection is just more positive.. plus i can add a switch so i can get my internet tv and all those other internet connected devices with the same ethernet cable

but if wifi and Powerline are both only allowed that small 6mbps internet connection.. then would it not be six one halfdoz... the other.. well i have 30 days to run some test and see if there is any true advantage... but i just wanted to see im anyone else is trying out the powerline adapter.. perhaps that 100 mbps will come in handy on dlna and serving video to the revue..

well time to go into the testing lab...

 

You can say the audio is much nicer, just much better resolution but I don't think there is any chance whatsoever the statement would be true.

 

perhaps its is placibo but i do know the latency of wifi has an effect on connection speed. and i think that the nature of wifi, spotty connection interference with all the other things, phone, other wifi in area, all the clutter on the bandwidth... for instance.. while watching a netflix kinda show i was gettting fare to good connection speed and it affected the signal. with the powerline.. i have a constant great connection.. so.. it will not jump from 50mbps to 62 or what ever the max of the revue wifi.. it will stay constant 88-130mbps... and as a result.. i dont have any netflix dropout.. infact i have not found and internet vid source in HD that will tax out the connection using powerline.. the connection is much more robust.. and even if its just my ears.. i do think that sound is quite a bit better,,, and i know the stream from the local net is much better... not quite as good as hard wiire ethernet.. but much stronger then wifi.. but thats just mho... but all those slow boggy net vid problems that curse the revue.. just are not an issue for me now... imlikingit

 

I have the Netgear 4 port power adapters and they work way better than Wifi for me. I have a Gigabit Ethernet router and when hooked up with the adapters I get near Gigabit speeds. There is a definite difference for me when comparing to when I had the revue hooked to wifi. Netflix never has an issue as well as when I stream my local content using Logitech Media Server. Also, there seems to be an issue when you try to index your harddrive as it will fail on wifi but work when you connect it through Powerline. You are correct in saying that speeds are much faster on powerline than wifi. As far as sound it depends on how the audio is decoded and what kind of soundtrack the movie is playing.

[h=2][/h]

 

ok a few more test and so far.. 95%.. of the time zero drop out or signal loss.. i just watched The Social Network.. through streaming from a web site.. played with out a hitch... i ran ping test at ping.net.. and am getting low 60 to 50 pinging a server 150 miles away.. the buffering time is much quicker.. from sites like putlocker and sockshare... and youtube feeds without any need for buffer no stalled video.. even in 1080p... so... the advantage of Powerline over wifi.. are starting to really show.. netflix still needs a lot of resources.. no apps running in background.. but once the revue is running with low overhead.. and you allow netflix to buffer there is very little chance of "we are sorry.....".. no increase in mbps... on internet speed... but in running a speed test at speakeasy,, the time it took for the test to load and finish... was a good 4 seconds quicker through powerline so that can be a benchmark of sorts... not sure how conclusive that is... but it was interesting to see the lag time..



more test... but so far.. very happy with this wifi alternative...

 

ok did some more streaming test Powerline vs Wifi.. the wifi gtv down stairs and the Powerline up stairs.. i was able to stream anything with out so much as a hickup with the unit up stairs... netflix... watched The Big Labouskey..sp,, in full 1080i,, smooth as silk.. not one "we are .... error" on the down stairs unit.. i used netflix to stream "cave of forgotten dreams" i got. 2 "we are...." errors.. and then i decided to use the little green task killer app.. to unload all that sludge gums up the works or the revue.. all those back ground apps... once i did that.. WIFI worked a charm... not one more.. "we are...." error... so with two different units i am able to replicate the results... so... my theory.. run the revue lean as possible... no eye candy desktop launchers,, no moving wallpaper, or twitter feed, no pandora.. yep.. go lean!! the revue is not a high horse power PC.. all those cool apps cost you.. hell.. i even unloaded my google Google Music... and its working much better after that.... and i also think a good solid feed of 5 or more Mbps.. will make things flow alot smoother...
it may be tough to let go of all those neat widgets and apps loading in the back ground.. but for me at least... this seems to work best... makes the desktop kinda dull.. but im ok with that,,,,

now... back to wifi. vs powerline..

upstairs powerline.. down stairs wifi
using speak easy, comcast speed test, comcast business class test... did not use Speedtest.net... too much graphic overhead... best to use the simple dials and stuff...

edit: include AMD dual core 3.2ghz 3meg mem, connection via Ethernet Down UP
speakeasy D10.21 U3.19
comcast D25.3 U3.20 <suspect
comcast bus D9.5 U3.19


down stairs wifi connecting at 65mbps with full bars...
pinging from Atl

speakeasy (formatting is a pain so the down number is listed first and the up) Down Up
D10.65 U3.23
comcast D9.70 U2.29
comcast bus D9.89 U2. 89

Upstairs Powerline AV 200mps connection... testing at 108- 98 mbps
Speakeasy D10.55 U3.17
comcast D14.88 U3.00
comcast bus D12.56 U3.11

ok all ping from the same server in Atl Ga..
now comcast has increased my net speed to from 6 to 15 or so... but it looks more like 10.. but even so it looks like 2 out of the 3 speed test are giving me +2 to +4 with the Powerline... not sure if any of this is valid... but i do notice a more snappy load times on powerline.. less flash crashes.. and net flix is tamed into a quite usefull application.... mho,, its not the app.. its the load on the machine.. thats just my findings
and is not very scientific,,, just a super small sample i guess i should add my PC speed numbers as a base line... but it was a neat experiment..
if a bit clunky..

my findings.... Have a bad time with streaming netflix? look at your wifi connection and run the system lean... overhead is a performance killer..



just mho...

 

I have experienced massive improvements with Netflix video quality just by connecting my Revue to the net via ethernet as well so it makes sence that improved wifi/adapters would make a difference as well.

 

I get better performance overall with direct wired or poweline adapters than wireless too.

Sent from my Htc Incredible via tapatalk....

 

You guys are great in the length and time you contribute to experimenting to make GTV work. I still think we should tackle Netflix head on. But thank you for all you've done to make this experience more enjoyable.

Take Care
Carl

 

I use wifi for sharing by ftp from my GTV to my other devises.

Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Tapatalk 2

 

I gave up on wifi and went with some powerline adapters which solved my Netflix problems.