Ethernet over power experiences

I am thinking of installing ethernet over power adapters throughout the house to hardwire various Roon endpoints instead of relying on wifi as I do currently.

What are the general experiences with these products in terms of stability and reliability? Is there an impact in SQ due to possible interference with the AC lines? Thanks.

I use TP-Link devices in my setup. They are the plug through variety and do not have wifi extenders incorporated. Once synchronised they are solid and stable performers. Plug any susceptible gear through them and you effectively cancel any impact of their use. I use a combination of the AV500 and AV1200 range and the improvement in user experience over wireless connection is evident.

For me it’s the other way round, using devolo products. I use a powerline connection because I can’t get a cable to my working space. It feeds two Raspberry Pies. Depending on the amount of DSP, I can’t use them simultaneously (not that I planned to do it, one feeds my stereo, the other one a dedicated headphone system).

Speed an reliability may depend on the quality of the powerline itself, and how much load you put on it while listening to music.

The AV1200 is gigabit rated. I have a pair between my NAS and modem downstairs and my core and endpoint upstairs. My AV gear is wired via an AV500 and streams 4K video with no problems. However my house is small, mains cable runs are short and all wiring is modern.

I use a pair of ZyXel-PLA series adapters (linking modem in office to microRendu in living room on same level of the house) without problems, dependable even with modest DSP (upsampling Red Book to 192/24).

This seems to be the big difference, the cabling in this house is almost 60 years old.

That would do it then. And that is an important point to make for people trying to decide if these products are for them.

Interesting, thanks for the feedback. Looks like I will go this route.

I wonder what aspect of AC cabling plays a role here on signal bandwidth… gauge, length, # of connections/splits, quality of circuit breaker panel? Copper is copper and heavy gauge is not needed for internet signals, just look at cat 5 cable.

I am in a medium sized house nearing 50yrs old…

I had good success with Linksys PLEK 500 modules. Still use them for a couple of things. A few months ago, I ended up hard wiring data cable to my media center which is by far the best solution, but EOP works well. It can be noisy when its plugged into the wrong spot though. Another solution is ethernet over coaxial cable (MoCA). It works fairly well, but is limited to certain types of coaxial hookups.

Probably a combination of all things like junctions etc. When I moved to an Edwardian house (that had wiring circa 20+ yrs old) I got electricians to test. It failed everything. And I mean EVERYTHING! When they ripped it out they found hidden junction boxes under the floorboards, things spliced together with a twist and tape - you name it. It was probably unsafe to say the least - but I guess you only find out the hard way and the previous owners were lucky.

Fortunately (cost aside) we were renovating anyway so had it completely rewired. I imagine the specs - safety especially - have been updated quite a bit in 50 years!

Annoyingly I was in a rush and didn’t get in some dedicated circuits for the hifi. Kicking myself now but that another story.