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Which range extender for R9000 X10?
I need ethernet ports in a different part of the house. Instead of snaking a cat6 line between walls, I'm considering EAX80 or EX8000 to use with my R9000. I have a 400/30 mbpscable ISP service, upgr...
I've got the EX8000. I like the fact that it's tri-band. Meaning it reserves 1 of the radios just for router---extender communication. this helps prevent bandwidth loss and reduce the latency hit you take just by using an extender.
I haven't seen a tri-band AX extender yet and I haven't played with the EAX80 so I can't attest to how well it works in comparison to the EX8000. It'd be nice to though :)
alokeprasad wrote:
Dumb question:
Does the product
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/powerline/PL1200.aspx
come with just one adapter? Will I have to buy two ($75 x 2 = $150) to get a functional setup?
There is no such thing as a dumb question. Only dumb answers.
In this case Powerline setups come in pairs, two plugs in the box. Indeed, a lot of people complain that they can't get single plugs. I had to go for a different make to add a single plug with two Ethernet outlets to my Netgear plugs.
alokeprasad wrote:
I must say, the powerline adapter looks much better and cheaper than the range extender!!
Let's go back to what you want. What do you plan to put at the "remote" end of the connection? A wired device, or something on wifi?
Powerline can do both and at the same time, but only if you buy the right package.
Some Powerline bundles come with a remote plug that doubles as a wif access point, another type of extender.
So, you plug the host plug into a router and the remote (guest) plug can deliver both a wire and wireless Internet at the same time. This means that you can connect a PC to the wired outlet and connect your phone, say, the the wifi.
This is the wifi version of the thing you linked to:
PLW1010 | Powerline | Networking | Home | NETGEAR
I hate to add to the complication, but there is another way to go about this. You originally asked about the EX8000. If you already own one, or have some bit of wifi kit lying around, you can plug that to the LAN port on the guest plug, and that plug doesn't have to be a wifi one. It is just a way of connecting an extender in access point mode back to a router.
In my previous house, I used ethernet as much as possible. I snaked a Cat5 and had switches in my home office and the living room.
I have moved recently. In my current house, laying down cat5/6 between rooms is not practical.
Cuuently, I have my cable modem in my home office, with a X-10 R9000 next to it. The wifi from it is enough for the most part: iPhones, iPads, a couple of laptops in rooms right above my home office.
My living room has a receiver with wired ethernet only. Other items in the living room (Ps3, Hopper, Vizio TV, chromecast) have both Wifi and ethernet ports.I have set those up on Wifi, for now.
So, at the minimum, I would like ethernet in my living room. Powerline seems to be the way to go between my home office and my living room, especially if I can attach a switch to the ethernet port of the powerline outlet in the living room.
If this is stable, I can add "powerline outlets with Wifi" in other rooms to get stronger wifi across the house. But that can wait. At least I have the option of expanding the network in a modular manner, and get ethernet port and wifi in distant parts of the house in the future if I use poweline.
I ordered the EX8000 directly from Netgear, but I plan to return it.
Question: Which is the best (stability, speed) powerline solution? I would like to mix-n-match those modules to get a) ethernet port(s) in my living room and b) ethernet+wifi in more distant rooms in future.
PS: Will the Wifi hotspot created by the the powerline adapter "mesh" seamlessly with the ones created by the X-10 R9000? Same SSD, switching between them as I move around my house?
alokeprasad wrote:
So, at the minimum, I would like ethernet in my living room. Powerline seems to be the way to go between my home office and my living room, especially if I can attach a switch to the ethernet port of the powerline outlet in the living room.
I can't see why this should not work. Neither the plug nor the switch has any active role. They hand all that stuff back to the router.
alokeprasad wrote:
Question: Which is the best (stability, speed) powerline solution? I would like to mix-n-match those modules to get a) ethernet port(s) in my living room and b) ethernet+wifi in more distant rooms in future.
I have seen no information that would lead me to rate any "best" solution. I used powerline wifi for a time but then acquired an Orbi system. The Powerline network feeds that.
alokeprasad wrote:
PS: Will the Wifi hotspot created by the the powerline adapter "mesh" seamlessly with the ones created by the X-10 R9000? Same SSD, switching between them as I move around my house?
As I understand it, Mesh technology is not something that you can create. It needs "Mesh capable" devices. The Orbi does Mesh.
There are devices that scream "Mesh Extender" in the documentation (EX6400 and EX7500, for example).These offer "Access Point Mode" an d could get their internet from a Powerline network rather than a wifi source.
I have no idea if that would work alongside an R9000. I see no hint in its documentation that it does "Smart Roaming".
To be honest, I find Mesh to be a distraction. I have two completely independent networks (office/home) with different SSIDs. I often move things from one to the another and rarely notice the handover. It is all down to the wifi clients.
Some people happily assign the same SSID and passwords to neighbouring wifi sources that don't claim any Mesh capability.