Hey guys,So, unfortunately it is unrealistic for me to have a wired connection to my desktop, so I need a good wireless solution. I am gaming, so I want the best performance possible, and I am not getting it with my current wireless card, the TP-LINK TL-WDN3800 Dual Band Wireless N600 PCI Express Adapter, 2.4GHz 300Mbps/5Ghz 300Mbps., which has issues like &*^@ connection to servers sometimes along with disconnecting from the wireless connection randomly for the next day after I restart my computer...
Hope I'm not too late but I would suggest connecting your desktop over the power line. You'll need a spare powerpoint near the router and another near your computer. I have my desktop connected to the router via a Netgear Powerline AV500 setup and it works great, even being on different circuits. Much better than having to deal with the unreliability of WiFi.
My suggestion is buy a decent wifi AP or even a decent wifi router if you have the budget and then configure it as a wireless bridge to your main access point, then if you use a router it will give you 4 or so ports depending on your choice of router to connect cable hardware, often wifi aps and wifi routers have far better antennas in them than you get with gaming grade desktop wireless cards, you will see less latency and better overall performance, although I can only speak for myself in that regard as your system may differ, but worth a try if you need stable network connections.
My question about Powerline Connections are do you have to get your adapters from the same brand as your router or connection? I have at&t uverse, so do I need to get at&t adapters or can I get like linksys adapters?
No, you just need your powerline units from the same company, your wireless router dosen't matter.
I use powerline, and while I find it to work very quick, it often drops out on me and it's performance fluctuates with my power usage. My powerline is d-link, so I'd try and avoid their older 300mbps models if you can.
After looking, the Rosewill 500mbps kit is the cheapest, and the best performing. Here is a review. If you want a powerline from a better known company, the Linksys PLEK500 looks really great. But, before buying anything, you definately should look at some reviews.
As far as the computer and router are concerned the Powerline Connections aren't even there so brand doesn't matter for compatibility.
You connect "Router -> Ethernet -> Powerline -> Ethernet -> Computer" but the network just sees it as "Router -> Ethernet -> Computer"
As ROK said look at reviews before purchasing anything but I'll vouch for the Netgear Powerline AV500. I've been using it for 6 months now and I haven't had any problem with it dropping out or slowing down.
Don't go any lower than 500mbps and don't shave off $20 for a cheap brand, find a good brand with good reviews and you'll be set.
If you need even better performance, then you are stuck going with a wireless bridge between 2 high end wifi routers, for example, 2 netgear R7000 routers, will give nearly 700mbit/s of real world wifi performance.
Someone recently told me that you have to plug the adapters in straight to a power plug from the wall i.e. not in a distributing plug (or whatever you call it in english). Is that correct or should it make no difference?