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Best Technology for Non Cat5/6 streaming

post #1 of 5
1/27/07 at 9:02am
Thread Starter 
I want 100% stutter free video for SD streaming.
I'm not prepared for Pre N or Draft N products as I'll probably change them when real N products are available. And while N product promises the bandwidth, the reality is yet to be seen in real world environment with microwave ovens, mobile phones and other EMF radiation going on in a typical home. It's too late now to wire up my apartment with Cat5/6 cabling.
I'm open to wireless G products but from what I've read SD is not going to be 100% stutter free, let alone HD resolution.

I've done some research and one of the options would be to use the powerline to transmit data. Aztech has a product that supports HomePlug AV standard:
http://www.aztech.com/prod_homeplug_hl108e.html

Has anyone tried to use the powerline to stream SD movies around the house ?

Does it work as advertised or it's just mere marketing like the wireless group ? sure wireless standards says it can hit 54MB for wireless G, but in real world environment, you don't get that on a sustained basis.
If the powerline does work, it should be good enough for HD resolution as well.
I would like to hear some stories from people who have actually used the HomePlug AV products and how it fared in a typical home with all the noise in the powerline.
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post #2 of 5
1/27/07 at 9:56am
i just installed a home plug type device from netgear, i think it was their xe104g product. I was able to clock sustained ftp transfer's of over 30Mbps when i had it connected to the right outlet downstairs (other unit was upstairs). The thing with these devices is it will totally depend on what other devices are plugged into the 'nearby' outlets and especially the outlet that the homeplug device is plugged into. When i had the two endpoints hooked up to the same outlet, i could get about 80Mbps.

So, basic story is yes, the powerline stuff works, but you have to deal with interference from other devices plugged into the power circuit just like you'd have to deal with other devices on the 2.4 Ghz spectrum for wireless G.

I'd suggest buying a set of adapaters from a B&M store to try out and see what kind of speeds you can get before you buy more from an online retailer that may be cheaper.
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post #3 of 5
1/27/07 at 10:05am
My real-time transfer of data using Netgear's top-of-the-line power networking adapters was about 800 kbps (as opposed to wirelessly getting 4 mbps w/ my Belkin Pre-N Router). I wasn't overly surprised, as my house is almost 80 yrs old.

There has been no more apt time to say the following -- YMMV.

Off-topic -- On the upside, I was happy to see that the new Apple Draft N Extreme base station user guides are out, and they will be able to act as bridges in a WDS (as opposed to the last iteration of Extreme Base Stations). I'll probably get 3 of them for the house, and connect them to my old b and g macs.

In terms of SD video streaming -- I never have problems w/ my "pre-N" (which is really just 'super-G'/'extreme-G'/ whatever each company has chosen to name it). HD streaming -- not so much...
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post #4 of 5
1/27/07 at 5:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by khewa View Post

I would like to hear some stories from people who have actually used the HomePlug AV products and how it fared in a typical home with all the noise in the powerline.

HomePlug AV is so new to the market I don't think there are many users at the moment. Few manufacturers have products out. Linksys has one, PLK200 and Zytel ? has another product out. PC World had a comparison review of HomeplugAV vs 2 others a couple of weeks ago. They liked HomeplugAV. I thought the testing was limited so how its going to work in the average Joe's home is still up in the air.

Other powerline adapters haven't had a great deal of success. The 85Mbs, turbo models etc. Some work some don't in various home situations.

Unfortunately there are so many variants it's hard to know what manufacturer is using what technology but only a couple at the moment use HomeplugAV. More manufacturers/products should be here later this year.
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post #5 of 5
1/28/07 at 9:27am
Thread Starter 
Thanks all for the feedback. So, it looks like HomePlug AV is still an unproven product yet in real world environment. Very surprised to hear that you can get faster speeds with PreN products.
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