powerline adapers for HD video streaming?

[dikkiedirk]

Can it be done? HD video and audio streaming over powerline adapters. I don't mean just mkv or wmv 1080p but also full bluray quality with HD audio formats like DTS HD-MA or Dolby TrueHD? Which adapters would be best suited?

 

[thiggins]

Depends on how good the powerline connection is, the peak bitrate of the HD content and the buffering in the player.

500 Mbps powerline products give you the best shot. Only way to know for sure is to try a pair. Performance tends to be more similar than different. Check the Powerline Charts.

 

[ikecomp]

I use the zyxel brand of powerline adapters myself to stream blu-ray rips to one of my rooms and it works flawlessly on high bitrate rips with HD Audio. However, this scenario would not be possible in another room of my house due to whatever electrical reasons. While this works good enough for my situation, the only thing you can do is test it. The worst that could happen is that it doesn't work and you send the product back.

 

[stevech]

If speed is inadequate, some improvements can be had by adjusting what's plugged into the same outlet as either of the bridge devices. "Signal suckers" (attenuators) - like surge-protector strips, UPSes, some computers/AV gear have internal attenuators. These can be jockeyed around.

 

[dikkiedirk]

That makes me wonder: If a 500Mbit adapter of brand a will be better than brand b. Will a Netgear do better than a Zyxel or vice-versa? Or if a Netgear will be troublesome can I expect the same from another brand. Many of these adapters seem to be based on the same chipset?

 

[ikecomp]

That makes me wonder: If a 500Mbit adapter of brand a will be better than brand b. Will a Netgear do better than a Zyxel or vice-versa? Or if a Netgear will be troublesome can I expect the same from another brand. Many of these adapters seem to be based on the same chipset?

In the real world there's no right answer. Everyone's wiring is different. I tried a pair of the netgear adapters and couldn't get higher than 30 megabits of consistent bandwidth in a certain location of my home. However, with a pair of the zyxel's in the same location I get consistent bandwidth of 60 megabits which is just enough for bluray streaming. Since the price of these adapters is coming down all the time I say try a few different brands and only keep the brand that works best for you.