2014-09-28, 12:19
Personally I would never trust HD video to WiFi, no matter how high the transfer speed gets, as don't want to risk dropouts which all WiFi will be more susceptible to.
(2014-09-28, 13:37)twelvebore Wrote: Another thing to think about - in both the wifi and powerline cases, as far as I'm aware, the bandwidth is shared between all devices attached to the network. I don't think either are point-to-point bandwidth, as would be the case in a proper switched Ethernet network. What this means is that if you're using eg. wi-fi heavily for streaming video, it's potentially going to make like unpleasant for anyone else attached to the network. For that reason, when I was going through the same decisions process, I went with powerline for Kodi network, and kept my wi-fi unpolluted for WAF reasons. Separate networks for separate purposes(*).
(2014-09-28, 13:37)twelvebore Wrote: Another thing to think about - in both the wifi and powerline cases, as far as I'm aware, the bandwidth is shared between all devices attached to the network. I don't think either are point-to-point bandwidth, as would be the case in a proper switched Ethernet network. What this means is that if you're using eg. wi-fi heavily for streaming video, it's potentially going to make like unpleasant for anyone else attached to the network. For that reason, when I was going through the same decisions process, I went with powerline for Kodi network, and kept my wi-fi unpolluted for WAF reasons. Separate networks for separate purposes(*).The removal of every wall and ceiling lining in my house, and the ensuing ability to run proper network cabling, is about the only positive thing to come out of the 2011 earthquake. Now if the fucking insurance company and their builders would just bloody get on with it...
One other comment - as far as I'm aware in both cases the headline bandwidth is that of the underlying physical transport layer, and doesn't include overheads for error correction. I've seen it quoted that the correction overhead is about 100%, ie. you should halve the headline number before you even start dividing by other numbers to estimate the best-case TCP/IP bandwidth.
(*) in the end though, I got the drill out and installed CAT5E to the HTPCs where I care about video. My 200Mbps powerline adapters can't deliver >30Mbps "real" TCP/IP bandwidth over the wiring in my house, so I only use them to network to audio-only HTPCs. I understand that not everyone can drill holes in their property though.