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The Livewire's UDP throughput was not nearly as fast though. Farther away though, the throughput dropped down to about 39 Mbps. ![]() In the first location, I saw speeds as high as 52 Mbps. For this test, I set the data size in Qcheck to 1000 kBytes.Īs you'd expect, the Livewire's TCP throughput fell somewhere in between Ethernet and wireless. However, its a straight shot with only the ceiling and a few plaster walls separating the two.įirst we'll take a look at the TCP and UDP throughput of the WD Livewire kit. This room is located on the opposite side of the house. The second location was the master bathroom. While only about 30' away from my office, there are concrete walls and metal ducts in between the two. The first location was my downstairs bathroom. The wireless and powerline network tests were run from two different locations. For the wireless tests, a Linksys WRT54GS 802.11g router was used. #Wd livewire powerline av network kit latest version windows 7This computer also runs Windows 7 Enterprise and was the one where the tests were controlled from. #Wd livewire powerline av network kit latest version PcThe second endpoint was my Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook. This computer was located in my office and, depending on the test, was connected to either a 100Mbit switch or one of the Livewire adapters. The first was a Dell Optiplex GX620 running Windows 7 Enterprise. Built using IxChariot technology, Qcheck is capable of testing a network's throughput and response time as well as the packet loss of data streamed between two endpoints.įor this test, I set up two endpoints. Still, considering the Piggy6 costs £60 and you'll need to buy at least one more Powerline AV adaptor (around £30, plus), the WD Livewire is surprisingly good value for a set with so many ports.To test the performance of the WD Livewire Powerline AV network kit, I used Ixia's Qcheck software. Although you'll need a separate single-port adaptor to connect to your wireless router, it's a more convenient device than Western Digital's WD Livewire. The main alternative to this kit is the Solwise Piggy6 adaptor, which has three Ethernet ports and six power sockets. Running bandwidth-intensive operations over all four ports would reduce transfer speeds to a crawl. Two connections running at that speed are still fast enough for video streaming, although speeds may drop if you're using HomePlug over longer stretches of wiring. This time, our throughput test produced a transfer speed of just 22.7Mbit/s. We re-ran our test, while simultaneously copying files across the connection. There are four ports on each adaptor, but connecting more devices means that your 54Mbit/s throughput will have to split between each port in use at the time. Western Digital is marketing the adaptors with HD video streaming in mind, but any HomePlug AV system is capable of that. ![]() Throughput of 54Mbit/s in adjacent plug sockets isn't unusably slow by any means, but it's still not as fast as many current HomePlug AV devices. We got fair but unremarkable performance from the Livewire adaptors when we performed our usual Powerline file transfer speed test. The usual HomePlug management utility is also supplied – this is generally only required if your HomePlug network includes some adaptors without push-button security. Buttons on each adaptor make it easy to form a secure network, which means that HomePlug-using neighbours or housemates can't accidentally wander on to your connection, even if they share your wiring. The adaptors work like any other HomePlug device. This is a welcome change from bulky integrated Powerline adaptors. Despite their size, there's no chance of the adaptors blocking adjacent power sockets or failing to fit into sockets positioned near the floor, as the mains connection is a standard two-pin figure-eight (C8) power lead attached to a three-pin plug which will fit anywhere. Because of this, they're bulkier than most HomePlug adaptors, with each measuring 32x86x119mm. Each of its two 200Mbit/s HomePlug AV Powerline adaptors has a built-in four-port 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet switch. Western Digital's WD Livewire kit has a different arrangement. Most adaptors only provide a single Ethernet port for every power socket used. The most common implementation of Powerline involves two adaptors, one connected to your router and the other connected to whatever device you want to bring on to your network. It tends to have greater stability than WiFi, particularly if you live in a building with a lot of wireless interference. Powerline networking, which extends your network by using your home's electrical wiring to transfer data, is increasingly popular. ![]()
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