Ignorant to Wi-Fi---Help please

[HarryTaco]

Hi Hello,

I have managed up to this point to be lucky enough to ignore all the ins-and-outs of Wifi for the last 10 or so years. I'm an Ethernet guy and proud of it.     I know how wifi works.  I know that it has grown to become rather sophisticated in usage with all the security safe guards and usage partitions now available in the software.  Which again, I have been lucky enough to ignore to this point.  But this isn't about me today.

 

I am building a new Rig for my nephew.  He is 26 and lives at home as he is disabled from being born without kidneys.  His family has a Spectrum Wifi ISP with a F@st 5260 Router.  I have checked the specs for this unit and it seems to be adequate enough for the family. It is the current Spectrum router and will get the job done.  We don't have much choice anyway. It is what it is.

On the Rig he is using, which is a horrible little thing from some office wholesale purchase ten years ago, he has a usb wifi receiver.   Since I am building him a new rig, I want to make sure he isn't "bottlenecked" by the wifi.   Router is in the living room, His Rig is in the bedroom, travels thru one wall, maybe 25 feet distance.   New rig I5 7600k, gtx1070, 16g ram, using MSI Z270 Gaming Pro mobo. The mobo  has Sli that he can upgrade another card down the road but doesn't have built in Wifi, so I will be using a USB Wifi connection.

 

I want to Optimize his connection best I can.  I have questions.  I have questions I haven't even thought of yet.  First off, I plan to do some co-op gaming with him.  Wi-Fi will be adequate for that these days?  I have no idea the efficiency advancements since wifi became the go to avenue for families everywhere.  Is the performance drop-off between Ethernet and wifi even a real issue for gaming anymore?  We are not professional gamers with high stakes on the line. (laugh)  We do want to optimize for the situation we have to work with.

I need suggestions for a USB Wifi Receiver. Are they all basically in the same performance envelope?   I do understand I can get a lengthy wire and move the antenna to a better position which we might do.

So that is my situation.  I am looking for suggestions as I am sure this is a very, very common scenario for many PC users.  I think an Ethernet option is out of the question for him as we would have to run the cable about 25 feet from router to bedroom and under the carpet at one point.  Just too much hassle and possibly too long a cable.

Please give me suggestions for solutions.  Help me, help him.

[HarryTaco]

88 views and not one response.   Oh well.  I got it figured out anyway.   AV1200 Gigabit passthrough powerline modules.  The amazing things they come up with these days.  thanks for nothing.

[phil69]

Could it be some people didn't have the knowledge to help you with your problem and kept checking back to learn something?

Edited April 19, 2017 by phil69

[wevsspot]

88 views and not one response.   Oh well.  I got it figured out anyway.   AV1200 Gigabit passthrough powerline modules.  The amazing things they come up with these days.  thanks for nothing.

 

Sure that there wasn't any ill will intended by the lack of responses.  

 

Sounds like you found the appropriate solution for yourself through your own research so kudos for that.  The powerline modules will probably work fine depending on the age and condition of the aluminum and/or copper power wires pulled throughout the house.  With the wireless standards and performance levels now at 802.11ac revision 2 (heck even the N standard at 450Mbps is adequate for gaming and HD video streaming) as long as your hardware selection was appropriate an entire wireless based system would have worked too.

 

The F@st 5260 router has some impressive specs. and supports 802.11ac through 802.11n/g/b.  So as long as you had picked a solid adapter supporting the same ac or n standards you would have been fine.  I've used multiple USB wifi adapters and have been underwhelmed in the past.  But the latest HTPC build I did incorporated a PCIe wifi card and it has performed flawlessly.  The distance on this particular installation was 43ft from the router to the HTPC and transmitting through an interior wall that was 50/50 brick fireplace and wood/drywall construction.

 

There were several options for keeping everything over the air and any number of them could have worked extremely well for you.  You can build out a nice wifi network on the LAN side of the router based on the hardware you had and hardware that is out on the market today.  

[IIxNullxII]

Ethernet through power is a great solution. I've been a Ethernet person for a very long time, too. I have run wires through the attic just so I don't have to plug in a PCI or USB wireless adapter. I'm glad you found a solution, and also wanted to point out this I found recently, and have been looking into for my own home. It's a set that includes 3-6 wall modules that plug into power, each has a wireless emitting antenna, and a single Ethernet jack. You put one where the router is, and plugin the ethernet, then set up more around the house. Preferably one in each room. It's a little expensive, but seems to offer a better advantage over your standard WiFi router or Ethernet over Power.

 

https://www.plumewifi.com/

[HarryTaco]

Thanks for the replies Overclockers, 

 

I apologize for my less than stellar attitude on that day.  I had lost a chunk of dollars on Wall Street and was a little pissy.  Sorry about it.

In regard to the answers and contributions, I thank you Wev and llxNullxll.  Wev, your support is always welcomed and thorough as always.  You are the best of the best.   IlxNullxll, I finally decided to purchase a two-port, ZyXEL brand, 1000mbps Powerline adapter.  I was lucky enough to find a guy that had experience with this equipment.   He told me he was currently using it very satisfactorily.  He was getting almost 200mbps because the plugs were on the same wiring in the house.  He said that you can expect about a 50% reduction in that performance if the lines have to route thru the fuse box. In any case, this should be enough of a Pipe  for my Nephews needs,  streaming movies or YouTube, some multiplayer, coop gaming and websurfing.  No major uploads or downloads.  Thanks again Gentlemen.

[wevsspot]

No worries HT.  Glad that you found a solution that sounds like it's working great for you!