Like many of you I have a lot of gaming equipment and computers in a small space. When I lived in a small apartment the distance from my "living area" and my bedroom was usually less than a few feet. Then I moved into something that more resembles a house and with a wife who values things being tidy. Which is why when/if I ever get around to posting my gaming rig it'll look like your Mom's house. Anyway, the eyesore of our townhouse was these two ethernet cables of 50 feet streching from our office/front bedroom across the entryway and living room floor to our television (360 and PS3). Rugs didn't help and many people including myself managed to trip over said cables numerous times putting into jeopardy my TV, consoles, and router. To say the least we needed to changed something.


Figure 1: My floor wasn't this bad, but this is how it looked to the wife.

Normally, you'd get up in the attic and run a CAT5 or CAT6 (ethernet) cable and put a jack in the wall near your router and another near your TV. We have vaulted ceilings and my attempts at climbing in the attic "space" were just not gonna happen. I was not given "authorization" to put holes in the wall/ceiling or to run cables outside and drill holes into the side of the house. Compromise is a tough thing guys, get used to it.


Figure 2: Let me show you my wireless signals.

For the longest time I had been eyeing technologies that would fix my problem: Wireless and ethernet over powerlines. Wireless is great right? You buy two routers and bridge them. I know this works because I've done it with computers before and it can often be cheaper to buy two routers than it is to buy a single router and a wireless card (at least it used to be, I haven't looked in a long time). The problem with wireless is it's throughput speed is limited and it introduces lag since the data is communicated over the air and not through wires. When I was looking it seemed that a wired solution is the best way to go. But, other than laying wires across my floor what could I do?


Figure 3: POWER!

Ethernet over power. No, not power over ethernet that's completely different. Essentially, you plug a box in one room and it has an ethernet jack (RJ-45) and another box is plugged in the room that you want to get the data to/from. The box converts the ethernet signals into signals that it transmits over the power wires within your home. In the past, this technology was really not so great because it often had low throughput speeds (Homeplug 1.0 spec was rated at 8 Mbps) which were not fast enough to stream video. Newer (2.0 spec) equipment is rated for 200 Mbps, however, real life speeds are approximated to be 1/4 of that. Still plenty fast for streaming even HD video and introduce little to no lag/latency.

So, I looked around for this equipment and found some on NewEgg. As is typical for me I spent many many weeks mulling over all of the details and how it would work. The shame of it is, is that very few people have bought Homeplug equipment in the states and that there are only a few manufacturers of this type of equipment. Contrary to the advice of Tazar, I went with the Zyxel equipment. Tazar suggested against Zyxel because as a DSL support super guy he had a horrible time with Zyxel modems and routers. The reason I went with Zyxel for this equipment is because they were Homeplug 2.0 spec and they had a box with 4 ports. The spec is important because there exists a chipset that is faster than Homeplug 1.0 but isn't compatible with 1.0 or 2.0 spec equipment. For the sake of future upgradibility I went with Spec 2.0 equipment. Oddly, Spec 1.0 equipment does not talk to Spec 2.0 equipment but they can coexist on the same powerlines.

So here's what I bought. The Zyxel PLA470 4 port router and the PLA400 ethernet adapter from NewEgg. The total was approximately 160$ with shipping. This is an expensive solution when compared to a cable across the floor, but in the end I'm liking what has happened so far.


Figure 4: The PLA470


Figure 5: The back of the PLA470


Figure 6: The PLA400


Figure 7: The back of the PLA400


Essentially I plugged the PLA410 into the wall near my cable modem and took a wire from it to the router. I then plugged in the PLA470 router into the living room next to the TV and plugged in the 360 and PS3. I turned both the PS3 and 360 on and I was online. That was it. I played Warhawk that night with the PS3 crew and then played Haloz coop with SpiderPig last night without a hitch. I haven't tried streaming video with it, but I imagine it would work fairly well.

BTW, this isn't an endorsement of Zyxel equipment or Newegg.com. These are just my findings. There are many other retailers and a few other manufacturers' of Homeplug equipment. YMMV. All Rights Reserved™.