Do I need Ethernet connection?

My upstairs TV has the antenna connection and the downstairs has the fibre wifi router.

It would be very difficult to run coax or ethernet lines between the two.

Could I make the tablo (Tablo Dual) antenna connection upstairs and use the wifi to connect the two? A recent speed test from 2nd to first floor showed 25mbs. or would there be an advantage to purchase an Ethernet power line adapter so there would be an Ethernet connection directly to the downstairs fibre router?

Any pre sales help would be appreciated.

Ron W.

Yes you can use wifi as long you have a good signal from your router, if you experience to much buffering you can get the ethernet power line adapter or wifi extender.

Thanks,

Any difference between a power line adapter and a wifi extender. I read that an extender creates another network, requiring a different net name and login?? is that true?

If it is true a power line adapter would be easier for me, I’m not too technical.

Ron W.

Not familiar with power line adapter can’t compare. I have a two story house and rewire and put cat5e in every room going to one central location where the wifi gateway is located but I still program an extra asus router to be an access point and put the same ssid name and password now even I’m in the backyard I still get a strong signal and because I put the same password and ssid name any wireless device I have connect to the strongest signal like my ring door bell and all the smart speaker that don’t have ethernet on them

The power line units work well in many cases, especially with homes built in the last 30 - 40 years. Make sure your home has a good ground on all affected outlets, and that you have one circuit breaker box. (Often times the connection will span separate breaker boxes very poorly, if at all.) Also, if your home is wired with a central (break box mounted) ground fault adapter, it is very likely the power line units will not work well. If you have GFI outlets near the bathroom or kitchen sink, you’re likely OK.

I am using several TP-Link AV 1200 units with excellent results. These units make use of all three wires in the AC circuit and require a good ground. I see about a 30% - 50% drop of signal from the back of the main router to the power line unit. (This will vary some, based on local conditions and appliance usage.) Some TP-Link AV1200 units even have a built-in wifi router (both 2.4gHz and 5gHz) to provide additional wifi coverage to the rest of the house.

My Tablo is in the sunroom, with the Plex server in the front office. The TVs and Rokus all connect via wifi. Move gigabytes of data through them daily with no hiccups – even when multiple people are streaming.

Power line extenders look like a piece of wire from the prime unit to the remote unit. They are truly “plug-n-play”, unless you get the ones with a router built in. My have only needed to be unplugged and plugged back in a couple of times in more than a year.

A bit of advice: stay with one brand of power line extender and one speed. While supposedly compatible, many systems do not work well together. Also, NEVER connect a power line extender through an extension cord. It will work very poorly, if at all. Also, I tried to save money by using units slower than AV 1200 (AV500, 600, etc) and was constantly disappointed. Many dropouts.

My daughter had been having problems streaming NetFlix for over a year. (Intermittently) She tried a repeater which did not help at all.

On my last visit, we bought the NetGear PL1200 for about $75. Installation was simply plugging the power line devices into the AC power and running ethernet cables from those power line devices to the router or the ethernet port on the other end.

The result was dramatic. Perfect signal at the furtherest TV set.

We bought it at BestBuy so that if there was a problem, it could be returned. There are warnings that if your power line is noisy then performance may be impaired to some degree depending on the severity of the noise.