My setup for Zwift is in my conservatory, It has double glazed glass and the wifi reception as a result is very poor. (it seems the radio waves are “bouncing” off the surface of the glass, and bouncing between the glass panes).
I cannot get an ethernet cable into the conservatory, so I was wondering if anyone has used these wifi powerline adaptors successfully…These are the ones that send the wifi signal down the 240 volt supply, via two plug in devices with a short ethernet cable each end. One being plugged into the router and one into the pc.
I dont really want to order and pay for a pair if they’re not that successfull.
These are NOT the same as the wifi repeaters , which use the wifi signal only modified, the problem will still be the same with the glass with the repeaters.
I can’t speak for Zwift specifically, but I’ve used Powerline adapters (TP-Link brand) for years for online FPS gaming. I’m using them for my TV and Xbox currently and they work very well for me, although the wiring in your house probably has some effect.
IIRC they need to be on the same circuit, which might not be the case if the conservatory was added on after the rest of the house; but I’m not too well clued up on the technicalities of it.
Edit: on the latter point I think it’s probably going to be fine - I was more thinking of a detached garage that might not be the same circuit (mine wasn’t when I had it converted into an office - but I never actually tried the Powerline adapters in there, I ran some Cat 6). I think that as long as they connect to the same consumer unit it’ll be no problem other than potentially losing a little bit of bandwidth.
I use a TP-Link one for my PC & Apple TV devices which both connect to Zwift. I also use the Wi-Fi off the adapter to connect to the Companion app as the ‘bike room’ (ex-dining room) is just a little to far from the Router.
This is what I’m thinking of I think, and confusing myself with different circuits (e.g. ring main circuit vs lighting circuit).
IIRC my garage conversion had a separate consumer unit and wasn’t on the same ring main as the house, but the conservatory was a spur from the main ring.
FYI, I used powerline adaptors (TP-Link) for years throughout my ~3,000 sqft three story home built in 1902 with God only knows how many different circuits crisscrossing the house. Anyway, this setup was very prone to dropping connections due to interference of other electronics and having to cross circuits.
About a year ago I finally bit the bullet and switched to TP Link Deco mesh nodes. I found the key to using the mesh hubs successfully was to place the nodes so that each node had at most one wall or ceiling to transmit through before it could “see” another node. In my case, this meant using seven nodes, quite a few more than would be suggested for the size of my house, but the old construction has very thick walls and ceilings. Just a suggestion for what I found worked for me.
One other possibility in the off chance you have coaxial cable coming into your conservatory is that you can setup MoCA adaptors instead of ethernet.