To extend Ethernet to remote location, are Powerline extenders or Mesh systems better?


I am trying to get Ethernet into a listening room that is not prewired, and it is not practical to run the hard cable through the old house into that room. I am planning to use a new music streamer that requires Ethernet connection (no wifi).

For hifi purposes, for passing the music signal, not just for computer equipment, are ethernet over powerline units better, or are wifi mesh router systems (which bring an ethernet port into a room using wireless transfer between the mesh devices) better?

For Ethernet over powerlines, I am worried about contaminating the power lines feeding the stereo preamplifier/amplifier, I don’t know if hifi power conditioners will filter out that super high frequency noise well enough.

For wifi mesh, it seems that the wireless handling of the music signal to feed the remote Ethernet port might somehow degrade the sound and introduce other problems that a connected wireline would avoid.

I am not a person that understands these technologies deeply, so I would value perspectives from others here who are users and who may be technically more qualified to understand this stuff.

troidelover1499

Showing 1 response by mwinkc

Mesh systems are much better than extenders.

TP Link makes good ones as does Google.

I have 3 Google mesh access points and they work great in my plaster & lath walled house... where extenders always fell short. I have the ethernet-out port wired to a gigabyte switch so a 4k TV and music streamer can have wired connections. No, I haven’t tried both at same time...but throughput is 90-100 mps so it would probably work.

I should add that until a month ago, I had gigabyte ethernet hard wired to that switch. The mesh system is working great, to my surprise and relief.