Electrical socket network ?

iMax

Was in a PC world today & spotted this electrical socket network kit made by devolo. Very handy me thinks - no trailing wires etc., but approx €120 also expensive.

Anyone come across them before ? Are they any good & is there a cheaper option ?

AndrewMc

iMax wrote:

Was in a PC world today & spotted this electrical socket network kit made by devolo. Very handy me thinks - no trailing wires etc., but approx €120 also expensive.

Anyone come across them before ? Are they any good & is there a cheaper option ?

This was (briefly) discussed recently on the Irish Linux Users Group list. Have a flick through the thread here: http://mail.linux.ie/pipermail/ilug/2007-May/093251.html

Have you a particular reason to use this rather than some sort of wireless?

iMax

Thanks for that Andrew. Currently using a wireless hub with PC & xBox 360 connected. I'm trying to sell the 360 because I only use it for streaming media from the PC, which has to be converted to wmv first (a lengthy process) as the xbox won't support the divx/xvid codec.

I'm looking for a wireless media streamer, but they're proving costly (€250+) & hard to source, & I figured if I went for a couple of media drives (one for bedroom, one for TV room), which come with a wired network connection (the wireless ones are expensive also), I could connect them with these instead.

Unless you've an alternative suggestion ?

Dankoozy

i want to buy a few of these. wireless doesn't really work here. i'd have to buy another 4 access points at least if i want all the buildings here covered.

but would it work with the netopia router from eircom?

Snaga

This could solve your xbox360 streaming problems...

http://www.tversity.com/home

It will transcode content from your server in real time to the 360 in wmv format.

As for the devolo powerline stuff - it works but consider it a hubbed environment - so you will get reasonable speeds with 2 devices - less with 3, even less with 4 etc...

Get the 200Mbps units if you plan to have more than 2 plugged in at the same time.

Dankoozy :- they present as plain old ethernet - so the netopia router would be none the wiser. Just be wary about what Ive said above wrt multiple devices on the same wiring segment and its affect on max throughput.

iMax

Thanks for that SNAGA, trying to sell the xbox though & get a dedicated media drive. Thinking of the freecom one (wireless)

theone

heres the freecom wireless box alot cheaper if you have a spare hard drive
I think ebay are the cheapest I got the delivery knocked down from 36 sterling to 22 meself from england so the price wasn't too bad.


http://tinyurl.com/2aqwcg

axer

iMax wrote:

Thanks for that SNAGA, trying to sell the xbox though & get a dedicated media drive. Thinking of the freecom one (wireless)

Or better yet buy a second hand xbox 1 for 60 euro from gamestop, soft mod it (which is completely free), install XBMC and now you have a media centre that will stream from your PC and a lot more. It will play nearly every codec out there.

I bought and softmodded 2 from Gamestop for this purpose alone. Just check the controllers you get from gamestop before you purchase as some can have wires pulled etc.

theone

I looked at that option aswell but seems too much hassle tbh and if you just get a drive in kit(freecom) and have a spare hdd lying around you can pick one up for €100.

Dearer than the old xbox and soft modding option but less messing around if you don't know what your doing.

iMax

Have an xbox 1 sitting around (I really should think before I buy stuff), might look into that. For now, bought a media drive which I'll transfer from pc then play on plasma.

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/06/06/dlink_unveils_powerline_pack/