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Powerline or wifi extender advice

Clarky75
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Powerline or wifi extender advice

Hi All,

 

I currently have a PLW1000 Netgear Powerline adaptor running in the front of my house to increase my signal and performance, I still find this to be a little slow and laggy.  I was considering the following

 

1. Keep the PLW1000, I tried to look for a firmware update, online it looks like I don't have the most recent, but when I try and update it says its the wrong version, or when I do the auto check it says newest firmware installed, the version I have is 1.0.0.8.

2. Get a Netgear EX7000 Nighthawk range extender

3. Get a Netgear Nighthawk EX7500 

 

Some people tell me the powerline should outperform the other 2. Which one of these devices would most likely give me more performance speed wise and also signal strength?

 

Thanks all


Clarky

 

 

Model: PLW1000|PowerLINE 1000 Wireless adapter
Message 1 of 3
plemans
Guru

Re: Powerline or wifi extender advice

Powerline can be tricky. When setup right, they work great. They are sensative to interference though.  I'll post a link on how to optimize powerline connections. I would first try to optimize your powerline setup before going to an extender.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3041996/pump-up-your-powerline-how-to-get-the-best-performance-from-...

 

You stated you couldn't get the firmware to updated.  If you have version 2 of the PLW1000, then you're correct on the firmware. Did you extract the zip file? I know of several people who've made that error and were directly trying to upload that file. If you read the release notes, it walks you though manually updating. 

 

This would be the route I'd try first. Get it updated and then optimize placment and performance.  

Message 2 of 3

Re: Powerline or wifi extender advice


@Clarky75 wrote:

 

Some people tell me the powerline should outperform the other 2. Which one of these devices would most likely give me more performance speed wise and also signal strength?

 

 


Not sure what they are telling you. Powerline wired ethernet will be better than wifi, but if you think of the size and complication of the access point bit of the Powerline plugs they aren't likely to be as powerful as a wifi extender.

 

Another possibility would be to use Powerline Ethernet to deliver the internet to an extender in AP mode. In that set up you do not rely on a possibly flaky wifi-to-wifi brdge between the router and the extender.

 

I have Powerline wired ethernet feeding a fancy Orbi network. That delivers wifi that is significantly better than anything that the Powerline AP can provide.

 

 

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