Can anyone tell me what the bandwidth is for the "Internet Connection Kit" homeplug solution that I can order on my accounts page vs the "Homeplug AV" kits that I can order on the internet. Now that my dream of MRV is becomming a reality, I want the best possible solution. Wireless sucks in my home, so I don't want to go that route. The one from Direct looks like it will be $25.00 X 2 = $50.00. I found the ZyXEL PLA400 200 Mbps Powerline HomePlug AV Desktop Adapter starter kit (includes 2) on Amazon for about $120 ($89 after rebate). My main concern is perfect viewing of HD on all 3 of my DVR's. My HR21 and HR20 are connected via Cat5, but I have no way of running cable's upstairs to the bedroom HR20. Any opinions would be appreciated, and sorry if this subject was already covered in another thread. Thanks.
MRV and Homeplug performance
- Thread starter chrisc909
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I got the 85mbit one from newegg and it wasn't quite fast enough for HD. It was just a temporary holdover and I'm in the process of running dedicated network cables to each TV, which is working great. I doubt you'll get 200mbit on that one you're looking at, but if you can get 100 or better you'll be good to go
I agree with JosephB.
I'm using the 85 Mbps units from Directv and there is quite a bit of stuttering (audio and video) with HD programming but SD is fine. I suspect the 200 Mbps type would do fine. I'll proably run a cable to my HR21 (my HR20 is already hardwired), although I'm not looking forward to working in the crawl space again.
I'm using the 85 Mbps units from Directv and there is quite a bit of stuttering (audio and video) with HD programming but SD is fine. I suspect the 200 Mbps type would do fine. I'll proably run a cable to my HR21 (my HR20 is already hardwired), although I'm not looking forward to working in the crawl space again.
Have you installed the Homeplug PowerPacket utility that comes with the units and see what speed you're actually getting on them? I found that using that utility and moving the adapters around to different outlets (even in the same room) can make a big difference in the speeds they get.
That's what I have and it works fine. actually you recommended this to me when i was having the stuttering issues. thanks :up
They solved my stuttering problem with Media Share, but they don't seem to be quite fast enough for MRV or Directv2PC. I need to trace the wiring back to my circuit breaker panel to see if both rooms are on the same side of the center-tapped 240 volt feed. If not, I'll try switching one of them and see if it helps.
If you use a router instead of a powerline adapter, do you need one as big as 200mpbs or will one at 100+ work fine? I currently have a 108mpbs router (it is the slowest thing in my network). I do have a more powerful one, but it is not wireless. I need the wireless for our laptops.
Are you talking about using wireless adapters to connect to your router or are the DVR's wired to it? If wired then the ports on the router are probably 10/100Mbps which will be fine, no need to upgrade it.
You should be OK then. This week I was playing around and had two HD MRV sessions, a DirecTV2PC HD session and a Slingbox local playback through a 10/100Mbps switch, which is what your the ports in your router are, and had no problems with any of those streams going through that one switch.
well the problem is you never really get the maximum rated speed. the homeplug spec for 200mbit is better because you will get 100+mbit but not 200mbit. The 108mbit will get 80+mbit but you probably won't hit 100 or 108.
So how does the MRV work? Does it stream only, or can you download a program from one box to the other like a Tivo? It would be really difficult for me to run cat 5 upstairs to the Master Bedroom and my office, but if I could download the program from box to box then I could just start it ahead of time and watch later.
Only streams in the current implementation. But as mentioned you can try a wireless or powerline connection to allow for the streaming.
Has anybody tried MRVing HD over wireless N? I'm currently evaluating between using a wireless N solution and the powerline adapter (200mbps version)
My current router needs to be replaced due to some fried wired ports (from lighting strikes) and I was going to get a wireless N one. So getting a wireless N gaming adapter for my bedroom HD DVR is cheaper than getting the powerline adapter. The living room HD DVR is using the one working wired connection.
My current router needs to be replaced due to some fried wired ports (from lighting strikes) and I was going to get a wireless N one. So getting a wireless N gaming adapter for my bedroom HD DVR is cheaper than getting the powerline adapter. The living room HD DVR is using the one working wired connection.
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theoretically you should be able to get upwards of 1/2 a gig via N.. if you even get 1/10th which is 100megs, you should be ok.. most networks are only 100mbps.. only real weirdos like myself run 1gbps through the house.. 
