Virgin Media Community

[neiltinsley_08]

I’m looking at buying a Powerline Ethernet Adapter, but I want to double check that I’m buying the right one for my needs. I want to use it to connect my Apple TV 4K by Ethernet as I use this for all my 4K streaming. I don’t plan on connecting anything else so I only need 1 Ethernet port. I also need it to have passthrough so I don’t lose a plug socket. The bit I’m unsure about is the speeds and whether or not I need a gigabit Ethernet port? I have a virgin media hub 3, which I understand has 4 gigabit Ethernet ports, and I’m on the M350 package. Obviously I want it to deliver the maximum speed possible to my Apple TV 4K. I was looking at this on Amazon which has just gone down to £39.99: 
TP-Link TL-PA7017P KIT 1-Port Gigabit Passthrough Powerline Starter Kit, Data transfer speed Up To 1000 Mbps

I guess my question is do I need a gigabit Ethernet port based on my setup and requirements? I’ve seen some cheaper powerline adapters that don’t have gigabit Ethernet ports. Would these still provide my Apple TV 4K with the maximum possible speed?

[spgray · Accepted solution]

yes you should always make sure any device has gigabit ethernet ports, otherwise you're limited yourself to 100Mbps.

[tehwolf · Accepted solution]

---

@neiltinsley_08 wrote:

I’m looking at buying a Powerline Ethernet Adapter, but I want to double check that I’m buying the right one for my needs. I want to use it to connect my Apple TV 4K by Ethernet as I use this for all my 4K streaming. I don’t plan on connecting anything else so I only need 1 Ethernet port. I also need it to have passthrough so I don’t lose a plug socket. The bit I’m unsure about is the speeds and whether or not I need a gigabit Ethernet port? I have a virgin media hub 3, which I understand has 4 gigabit Ethernet ports, and I’m on the M350 package. Obviously I want it to deliver the maximum speed possible to my Apple TV 4K. I was looking at this on Amazon which has just gone down to £39.99: 
TP-Link TL-PA7017P KIT 1-Port Gigabit Passthrough Powerline Starter Kit, Data transfer speed Up To 1000 Mbps

I guess my question is do I need a gigabit Ethernet port based on my setup and requirements? I’ve seen some cheaper powerline adapters that don’t have gigabit Ethernet ports. Would these still provide my Apple TV 4K with the maximum possible speed?

---

Agree with the previous response that you shouldn't really bother with anything <1gb, though you should also be aware that you're unlikely to get anything like those speeds over a powerline adapter.. for 4k streaming you're looking at somewhere between 15 and 30mbit required bandwidth - which should be fine.. but don't expect full gig speeds.. 

[neiltinsley_08]

Thanks, I thought that was the case, but then I got confused as I saw several powerline adapters advertising up to 600mbps which didn’t appear to have gigabit Ethernet ports!

[neiltinsley_08]

One more question, do I need a special Ethernet cable or will any old one do?

[spgray]

---

@tehwolf wrote:
Agree with the previous response that you shouldn't really bother with anything <1gb, though you should also be aware that you're unlikely to get anything like those speeds over a powerline adapter.. for 4k streaming you're looking at somewhere between 15 and 30mbit required bandwidth - which should be fine.. but don't expect full gig speeds.. 

---

depends on the source.
netflix/amazon you'd be lucky to hit 30Mbps.
appletv can be up to 50Mbps (shown via testing by the HDTVTest youtube channel).

of course, if you are locally streaming your own BRRIP remux files than there are many that peak way over 100Mbsp, some as high as 180-190Mbps.

[spgray]

---

@neiltinsley_08 wrote:

Thanks, I thought that was the case, but then I got confused as I saw several powerline adapters advertising up to 600mbps which didn’t appear to have gigabit Ethernet ports!

---

600Mbps the bandwidth that the device can handle via the power cables - ie the link between the two powerline adaptors.
that speed is not related to the physical ethernet socket on the device.

[spgray]

---

@neiltinsley_08 wrote:

One more question, do I need a special Ethernet cable or will any old one do?

---

any cat5e cable with be sufficient.

[gary_dexter]

You might max out at 100-150Mbps on powerlines. If you’re lucky. 

[neiltinsley_08]

Are they not worth getting then? Should I just leave my set up as it is, with my Apple TV 4K connected to the 5 GHz WiFi?