Ever felt the presence of a device that could enhance the performance of your internet speed? if yes, then you must have thought of the possible solutions for it. The solutions are powerline adaptors and Wi-Fi extenders. Choosing between them is quite hard as they both are created for a similar purpose—To enhance the performance of internet connection and eradicate the frequent slowdowns. They are quite distinct technologies that serve for a similar purpose which is extending the internet speeds. In this article, we have pinpointed some major differences between these technologies that would easily help you decide which option is best for you.
To better understand the difference between powerline adaptors and Wi-Fi extenders, we must have a fair understanding of what they offer.
Powerline Adaptors:
A powerline adaptor is a convenient device that helps users to have proper access to the places where the network connectivity is quite impossible. It runs a network cable somehow similar to an Ethernet connection. It requires two outlets that can be plugged into the main switches of your home. It usually sends the signals through the wiring in your home. Powerline adaptors need to be kept closer to the computer you are accessing the internet on.
Powerline adaptors are maybe somehow similar to Ethernet connection. However, they are not even near better than the Ethernet connection.
Wi-Fi Extenders:
The purpose of the Wi-Fi extender is to extend the network coverage into the house. It supplies signals to the distant areas of your house. There is no supply for Ethernet cables using Wi-Fi extenders. It keeps on repeating and boosting the Wi-Fi signal from the wireless router to improve the speeds and enhance the network coverage. Wi-Fi extenders usually work like bridges. In such a way that signals are conveyed and rebroadcasted.
Powerline Adaptors VS Wi-Fi Extender:
Now that we have a fair knowledge about both of the technologies, we might want to know what are the perks and downsides of powerline adaptors and Wi-Fi extenders.
Perks Of Choosing Powerline Adaptors:
- Simply hide the connection up in the walls. There is no need to have a whole network cable connection run through your house to get your devices connected to the router.
- Network latency is quite low with using powerline technology as the interference gets low as well. This in turn provides a better and stable connection.
- You don’t have to configure or set up powerline adaptors. They are already connected directly from the factory. They auto-detect the signals between two plugins.
- Gigabit facilitates the speed and improved it to be the best speeds that your home router could ever have.
- They are more secure with strong encryption.
Downsides Of Powerline Adaptors:
- With the old electrical wiring throughout your house, you are hardly getting good connection speeds with powerline adaptors.
- There can be glitches and wring turns in auto-detection of powerline adaptors which in turn give you a tough time to fix it.
- Other important home appliances cause quite a lot of load on electrical wirings which malfunction the performance of powerline adaptors.
- Connecting powerline adaptors to the main switch may require complications and maybe not convenient at first shot.
- High consumption of electricity.
Perks Of Wi-Fi Extenders:
- they boost the coverage of network signals make it possible to reach connected devices no matter how far the devices are placed.
- they repeat and boost the ordinary router’s signals which in turn thrives your connectivity speeds.
- Wi-Fi extenders are comparatively cost-effective as compared to powerline adaptors.
- If carefully placed and configured, Wi-Fi extenders give off the best speeds with the best network coverage.
Downsides Of Choosing Wi-Fi Extenders:
- The bandwidth that the Wi-Fi extenders provide is not even the half that the main router provides.
- The procedure is quite prolonged as the signals are first to be detected by the extenders than the connected device.
- The standards of both of your Wi-Fi extender and Wi-Fi router should be similar.
Powerline Adaptor Is Better Than Wi-Fi Extenders:
Powerline adaptors work quite better. Why? There are not many issues with the overall electrical wiring. Network latency is a big factor that makes powerline superior over the Wi-Fi extenders. Moreover, you can use both wired and wireless connections with powerline adaptors.