Kat Donegan
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What is powerline networking and is it safe for my gaming rig?
I have a gaming computer which doesn't have wifi capabilities. I can't use an ethernet cable because the router is in another room. An option I was looking at is powerline networking. I only did a brief Google search on this.
- Can someone explain how exactly powerline networking works?
- How safe is it in terms of surges and possible fires? I have a lot of stuff plugged in, having a gaming rig and all, but they're all on a surge protector.
- I hear it's better than wifi but not better than ethernet. Is this true?
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^^ what they said :)
What games are you planning on playing? The latency is slightly higher than WiFi so this might be an issue for MMORPGs
ASKER
It is MMORPGs. Right now I'm playing on Mac (terrible, that's why I'm using my PC again), and on wifi through my Mac I get about 70 MS. Not sure how bad that is; my game skips around a bit but that could also be due to my Mac not being built for gaming.
To everyone: Thanks for your answers! Very helpful indeed. Silly question, but if some surge were to happen, it's not going to cause my PC to blow up or anything like that, is it?
To everyone: Thanks for your answers! Very helpful indeed. Silly question, but if some surge were to happen, it's not going to cause my PC to blow up or anything like that, is it?
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Thanks everyone! All your answers are super helpful. I have no choice but to use this method anyway so I just wanted to know what to expect.
OOC, you say your gaming rig doesn't have wifi capabilities.
Why not install a USB 3.0 WiFi device? If you don't have enough USB ports, get a USB hub.
Why not install a USB 3.0 WiFi device? If you don't have enough USB ports, get a USB hub.
ASKER
Wouldn't that make for a worse connection than powerlining? Especially if I get a USB hub, which I'll have to because my USB slots are all taken up. With my experience with USB hubs, the connections aren't great. I tested this with my mouse once and it was laggy.
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I'm going to try it this weekend and let you know what's up. Thanks!
ASKER
Lucas - Your suggestion to use a USB wifi adapter works wonders!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication
It’s definitely a “YMMV” thing but yes, on average better than 2.4GHz WiFi and not as good as 100Mbit Ethernet