KlaatuBarada

Q: Power Line Adapter vs Cat 5e Cable Metrics

I have installed a pair of power line adapters (TP-Link AV500 Nanos) between my Airport Express 6th gen and a Airport Extreme 2nd Gen on the opposite side and floor of my home.  So far results are good but I would like to quantify the difference between using the adapters and a dedicated cat 5e ethernet cable.  I just happened to have a 100 foot terminated 5e cable in my inventory.  I thought that I could connect the two Apple Airport units (temporarily) buy running the cable through the house/up the steps, etc.  to get a comparative throughput reading.  Yes I am retired and have a lot of time on my hands.

 

What would be the best method of driving the link at high speeds.  My Comcast link is delivering 75 MB?

 

Thanks for your assistance.

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Sep 25, 2015 1:41 PM

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Q: Power Line Adapter vs Cat 5e Cable Metrics

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  • by LaPastenague,Solvedanswer

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Sep 25, 2015 2:09 PM in response to KlaatuBarada
    Level 9 (52,280 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 25, 2015 2:09 PM in response to KlaatuBarada

    Always use ethernet as wireless is not fast enough or reliable enough to do it.

     

    There is no such thing as a Gen6 Express..

     

    Did you swap the gens.. ?? There is a gen6 Extreme and a gen2 Express.. they are latest models of each.

     

    You need two computers.. so if you don't have another computer available try and get one.. ask a friend with laptop for drinks.. BYO laptop.

     

    Plug the laptops in, each end of the link and run iperf from command line.

     

    http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/answers/how-to-test-speed-home-network-iperf

     

    The easy way to do this.. especially if both laptops have SSD drives is just copy a file from one laptop to the other and use activity monitor to check the speed.

     

    Tesserax recently did this kind of testing for speed of USB drives..

     

    The method will show you what to do.

     

    AirPort Disk - Throughput Testing

     

    Also the tools he lists will be rather easier to use than iperf.

     

    NOTE the actual throughput will be hugely improved using ethernet from computer to computer.. because your Express has 100mbit ports.. although I doubt power line adapters on any decent run will ever reach 100mbit .. and real world N wireless throughput will seldom reach >100mbps without using AC wireless, you do need to understand you are causing basic slow downs to LAN networking using it.

  • by Bob Timmons,Helpful

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Sep 25, 2015 4:51 PM in response to KlaatuBarada
    Level 10 (104,968 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 25, 2015 4:51 PM in response to KlaatuBarada
    My Comcast link is delivering 75 MB?

    Is that really 75 MB (600 Mb Internet connection....very impressive)....or....is 75 MB really 75 Mb (9.4 MB)?

     

    Whether it is 75 MB, or more likely, 75 Mbps.....Ideally, you would want to confirm this by connecting your computer directly to the modem, or if that is not possible, connect it to one of the LAN <--> ports on your "main" AirPort Extreme and run a few Internet speed checks to establish a base reference.

     

    For the "remote" speed check,  the simplest thing to do for Internet connection speed would be to run the Ethernet cable from a LAN <--> port on the "main" AirPort to your computer at the other end of the 100 ft Ethernet cable and then run a few speed check measurements that way.

     

    Then, connect your computer to the powerline adapter at the remote end of the powerline chain and run a few speed checks that way.

     

    Most powerline products tend to be quite optimistic about their speed capabilities.....or they measure "speed" on the same electrical circuit. Things can sometimes really change significantly if the signal has to move through several different "phase hops" back at the main AC circuit breaker box, or the signal has to cover a long physical distance.

     

    If you want to check the speed capabilities of your network...and not an Internet connection.....unless you have some really sophisticated test equipment and software, the easiest way to get a feel for that would be to copy a file from a device back at the head end of the network to another device at the remote end of the network and note the exact time that it takes for things to occur.  You will have to know the file size of the "test" file that you want to copy of course. An iPhone comes in handy as a "timer".

     

    Important note.....an AirPort Express has only 100 Mbps Ethernet ports, so if you are checking Ethernet connections through an Express, the maximum speed that you will ever attain is about 100 Mb (12.5 MB).  Users are often disappointed to learn that their Gigabit (1,000 Mbps) connections from an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule drop by a factor of 10 times down to 100 Mbps when the signal reaches the AirPort Express.

  • by KlaatuBarada,Helpful

    KlaatuBarada KlaatuBarada Sep 25, 2015 4:51 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (30 points)
    Apple Watch
    Sep 25, 2015 4:51 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    Sorry guys I reversed the equipment description AirPort Extreme connected to a remote Airport Express.  Also my Comcast connection speed verified by OKLA Speedtest is 79 Megabits per second down 6 megabits up. Thanks for your suggestions - give it a try tomorrow.

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Sep 25, 2015 5:06 PM in response to KlaatuBarada
    Level 10 (104,968 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 25, 2015 5:06 PM in response to KlaatuBarada

    I think LaPastenague nailed it about wall as it can be said. 

     

    Ethernet is always the best performance choice and most reliable connection method if you have that option.