Yes.... I need to get rid of a cable, have a wired router and so I'm looking into trying these out.

Has anyone had any experience of using them and if so what make, performance etc.

Thanks guys.

I've got to ask.....
What's wrong with WiFi?

I've got some.

Not sure what make but I can find out for you.

I love them. I use them because I'm out of Wifi range of the router so on Wifi I can just about get a connection at all. With these the speed of them far out performs the speed of the broadband connection so I have no problems in that respect.

I haven't tried them out internally (i.e. file transfers from one machine to another) but they advertise 200Mb.

I've got some cheap eBuyer ones 200mbps

Fairly good, get about 6 or 7MB/s on transfers which is close to the limit AFAIK

I think the gigabit ones are a waste of cash atm as the speed increase isnt good enough currently

Also advertised speeds are half duplex (one way) usually so you would need a 200mbps for a theoretical 10/100 connection

They're quoting full duplex on the homeplugs. NIC's are normally rated in half duplex

I meant that

Will teach me to post during a deployment

Thanks guys. It's nice to get some knowlegable feedback. I think I'll pick up a couple of 200Mbps and give them a try. They appear to be much more affordable now than they were a couple of years ago.

I have nothing against WiFi but I am aware of connection difficulties in some larger houses and reliability issues. I also wouldn't want to have to go out and buy a new router and wireless adapters for the 3 computers in the house.

7dayshop.com do some - http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=777_9

I use a pair of WD Livewire's.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003YFHD1W/

Works brilliantly. Its actually quite funny - without it I cant use the internet on my laptop most of the time (the router's wifi drops off constantly/wont stream for anything and so this is a lifesaver). Even works with Apple's

Ummm, only everything.

Let us know how you get on. I'm intrigued...

Home plugs may be the way to get my Acorn machine online However, the radio ham people may not like them. Apparently, they cause interference.

GCHQ was thought they did. Then they thought they didn't.
What would be interesting is how far the signal propagates on the circuit once you're transmitting on the ring main.

The earliest models blocked out weak shortwave signals for about a mile around, and pretty much jammed the medium wave band for you and your neighbours.

Newer models filter out the more important parts of the spectrum so that fewer people complain.

However, mains cabling is untwisted and acts as a giant aerial. It is scientifically impossible to pass radio frequencies through them without generating RFI. There is very little of the spectrum that is truly unused.

We have one at work now. I keep meaning to take a radio in to test it. We have an amateur radio enthusiast two doors down who may well be cursing as I type this...

I switched from wifi to plugs (Netgear 500mbps jobbies) and the throughput is fine for my broadband connection.

The wifi down to my office in the cellar was patchy and I was fed up of websites not being found etc.

I have the NAS and my computers in the office on a Gbit switch, so everything here is fast. Syncing to my Apple TV seems to run at a reasonable speed, but that is on the wifi upstairs...

Quick update.

Ordered a set of 2 x 200Mbps Solwise plugs from homeplugs.co.uk on 11th April just after 1.00pm. They arrived the following morning before 9.30 !

At the time we had visitors staying so I didn't get the chance to try them out but today I took them and plugged them in. Simple.... plug one into the router and the other into my pc. Both then plugged into the mains supply. The connection was instantaneous and I now have no cables routed around my doors which in turn means I no longer have an excuse to delay decorating the hallway !

Seriously... they work and they appear to work well. I'm very happy with them.