HomePNA + Ethernet

[rw120555]

I have a HomePNA network with 5 machines connected via phoneline. It works pretty well, but occasionally you get these "cable unplugged" messages which I suspect have something to do with static. Typical solution is to unplug and replug phone cords and then all is well again.

I recently got a Netgear RP334 router. With it, it would be fairly easy to connect two of the machines by ethernet while leaving the rest of the network on HomePNA.

Given that the system works pretty well now (and my wife will get quite annoyed if her machine stops working as well) is it worth it to switch some machines? My theory is that the ethernet connected machines would have more reliable and faster connections. Maybe the HomePNA machines would even do better if fewer machines were using the phone lines. On the other hand, I wonder if there would be any pros and cons with regards to file transfers between the ethernet and homnepna parts of the network.

If anyone has experience with this, any thoughts would be appreciated. RW

 

[jimmyhaha]

I use HPNA b4, serve me well
switch to router solution

running cat5 cable is a pain in @ss connecting upstairs and downstairs pc and also very ugly...
only reason I switch to router solution is

- more reliable connection, like u say, HPNA sometime disconnect and reconnet itself for no reason..
- faster transfer rate between computer

my 2 cents

if u do a lot of file transfer => ethernet
web browsing and light file sharing => stick with HPNA

 

[skeletal29]

switch over to ethernet. its a more stable standerd. Its cheap. and you get more bandwith.
11 mbit is shamefull for a home lan these days.

 

[rw120555]

Thanks. I went ahead and switched two machines over to ethernet, and it wasn't too hard to do. The rest of the machines are off in the distance and will stay on homepna, at least for now. The homepna 3.0 standard is supposed to support 100 MB speeds, and if it works well it may be pretty attractive. RW