If you buy products through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Learn more. The days of listening to your modem sing its cryptic song are long gone. The age of Ethernet and Wifi has come.
When gaming, the goal is to limit the possibility of a slow or lost connection. For that reason, a powerline adapter, which is for all intents and purposes like an ethernet cable, drastically reduces the chances of a weak or lost signal. Under ideal conditions, Powerline is faster and more stable. Wi-Fi is cheaper and easier to set up, but you sacrifice speed and stability for a clutter-free experience.
In this article, I want to cover both options in a fair light. Plus, who wants all these wires across their houses? Powerline is a network solution that sends a data signal through the wiring inside your home. Powerline is a set of plugs that have ethernet ports. One connects to your router, and the other plugs into the wall near the device you want to hook up to the network.
This even works across different floors of your home. This networking solution sports some of the highest speeds available. The downside of Powerline lies in its advantage. Powerline adapters can be hit-or-miss. You may also need to try several outlets before you get the best connection. Naturally, for gaming, you want to have the best speed possible. Nobody wants to lag out and ruin their game experience.
Most manufacturers of Powerline devices advertise that top speeds are up to Mbps. Wifi, on the other hand, has a cap of Mbps on a 5Ghz network.
According to Lifewire, the actual speed for a modern Wifi network is around Mbps. In an ideal home, I think Powerline has the edge. For the uninitiated or amateur gamer, playing on traditional wi-fi is not preferred. Hardcore gamers want a more stable connection than traditional wi-fi for a few different reasons. For starters, traditional wi-fi signals can weaken or drop. For Powerline Adapters to work it is essential that these are installed onto the same electrical circuit to each other, if they are not they will not connect to each other.
Your Powerline Adapters will only work properly if you plug them directly into a wall socket, and not into extension leads.
Powerline proved to be slightly faster than MoCA, but MoCA could prove to be more reliable since powerline adapters need to compete with so many other devices that use the same wiring.
The good The Netgear Powerline kit is affordable and delivers the connection speed many times that of a regular Ethernet connection. The adapter has an indicator light that helps you find the best wall socket to plug it in.
If you have less bandwidth available, you may want to limit the number of powerline adapters you use. A powerline adapter of speed range between Mbps provides a lag-free gaming experience. The reason for this discrepancy is the simple fact that WiFi extenders are simply an add-on to your existing network setup whereas mesh networks are an entirely new network setup that require multiple new devices to be placed around your home.
They work in a similar way to how the signal for a cable TV travels through the coax cables found within the walls, which is widely accepted as being safe and is not considered to be a fire hazard. Most of the time, powerline adaptors have the same connection speeds as Ethernet. But that will depend somewhat on how your building is constructed.
If you live in a building that has a very complex electrical layout, then you could possibly have slower connection speeds than Ethernet or WiFi. This type of system relies on simple continuity of two or more of the three legs hot, neutral, ground.
Oct 27, 1, I use a powerline kit and get great results but it really depends on the wiring in your house. MoosetheMark Member. May 3, I have tried multiple WiFi extenders in multiple apartments and they have never, ever worked.
Deleted member User requested account closure Banned. Oct 26, 6, Powerline has worked better for me, but it's very dependant on your home's wiring. Jaded Alyx Member. Oct 25, 27, Go with Powerline. Sussy Baka Avenger. My powerline is incredible, it's almost perfect.
Themaddestgamer Banned. Nov 30, 1, Especially for gaming and latency.. Drats, didn't know powerline adapters were dependent on wiring. Guess I'll have to try it to see if it works. Hace Member. Sep 21, MajesticSoup Banned. Feb 22, 1, Routers these days will cover every corner of a sq feet house easy. Razgriz Member. Oct 25, 6, Kinda doubt you'd get a router configured but good luck.
Oct 31, I have those exact powerline adapters, it works in some rooms but not in others. Also the speed ratings on powerline adapters are a lie, even with good wiring you're not going to be getting anywhere near the rated speeds, powerline adapters are more for connection stability than high speeds.
Coaxial adapters work better if you've got the wiring in your house but the adapters are also more expensive. SecondNature Member. Oct 25, 12, I use Powerline from basement to upstairs and it works great.
Figure its more reliant than wifi too. LCGeek Member. Oct 28, 4, Unless the wires are bad there's little reason to go wifi. Sorry dave taht wouldn't vouch for it in the battlenonsense video he managed to make it on.
Only use wifi as a last means, it's not horrible unless you got range or interference issues but it's not the best. Pikelet Member. Click to expand Crayon Member. Oct 26, 14, I've had good success with Powerline adapters in home. Never tried an apartment. It is generally acknowledged across most of the gaming community that wired ethernet connections are preferable to wireless ones for online gaming, as in general terms it is known to give the most solid consistent connection.
There are still some skeptics though that claim Wi-Fi is just as good as wireless and it makes no difference to use wireless for gaming or anything else. Is there any truth to these claims?
In this article we will argue that whilst in some houses wired and Wi-Fi connections may be close enough in performance that there appears to be no difference, wifi connections are fundamentally not as solid and reliable as wired connections.
We will systematically break down both the advantages of wired ethernet connections and the disadvantages of wireless network connections to show that the fundamental structure of the way Wi-Fi operates in homes puts it at an immediate disadvantage over wired ethernet especially when it comes to latency for gaming. In other words, it is always better for gamers to get onto a wired network connection when possible.
As we have covered in another article , the number one priority for gamers for a better online experience is not to maximise bandwidth but to minimise latency or lag. The main factor for reducing lag for gamers is to keep the latency, or the time it takes for data to be sent from their consoles to the router, to a minimum.
Many gamers manage to achieve this by always using an ethernet cable to connect to their modem whenever possible, even if it means running long ethernet cables through walls or down stairs, as it delivers the most solid connection with no obstruction of the signal. Wi-Fi on the other hand has certain drawbacks regarding signal strength and quality that make it less reliable for gaming.
A properly constructed Unshielded Twisted Pair UTP Ethernet cable is usually very effective at carry a strong signal over a good range several hundred feet or more without degradation or interference.
They are therefore perfect for home networking for delivering a consistent connection with no or almost no signal loss, which is exactly what gamers are looking for. An Ethernet Cable contains an Unshielded Twisted Pair UTP cable as shown above to send a strong signal over long distances with almost no degradation or interference. Wireless Signals on the other hands are sent as radio frequency waves which firstly always degrade anyway the further they travel from the source as per the Inverse Square Law that applies to all RF and EMF waves.
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