Until fairly recently, I have not thought much of powerline adapters.
Several weeks ago, I moved my entire photo collection from a portable USB drive onto the Synology DiskStation. That’s when I unwittingly created a problem. Wireless network has a much lower bandwidth compared to USB 3.0 connection. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom became unusable because it’s trying to load thousands of photos over the wireless connection. That’s when I started looking into powerline adapters.
As the name suggests, these adapters make use of the electric wiring to create a network, eliminating the need to route long unsightly network cables around the home. I was a little doubtful initially about how well the adapters would perform. Not wanting to spend too much, I opted for the entry level TP-LINK TL-PA4020 Kit, which retails for less than £30 on Amazon.
Having used the kit for several weeks now, I’m thoroughly impressed with how well it works. I have one adapter in the lounge, and the other in the bedroom. I don’t know how the flat is wired up behind the walls, but would guess there is probably around 30 metres of wiring between the two wall sockets. The connection is fast and reliable. The TL-PA4020 has dual ports on each adapter. As the powerline network functions like an ethernet hub, the bandwidth is shared between both ports. Additional adapters can be added as well if necessary.
The recommendation is that the adapters are plugged directly into the wall socket. According to reports online, it will not function at all in some multi-way power sockets. I have tried using them in 3 different 4-way power sockets and they do work; albeit at reduced speed. If that is a concern, there are other slightly more expensive models that have a power socket on them, which means you do not end up losing a wall socket.