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 3 responses by ghdprentice

Easy. Get an extender. The cost around $60, the wall wart kind that has a single Ethernet port. They work amazingly well. Easy to set up. If you don’t have mesh, I wouldn’t recommend adding. It works fine for some people and is a nightmare for some. Don’t use anything that passes the signal through the power lines.

 

If you want to go the next step you can put an Ethernet regenerator after the extender. But start with just the extender. Both my systems run off these… click on my ID to see them.

The bandwidth required by streamed music is tiny. Good quality streamers cashe the files, basically isolating you from all but the most unreliable data streams.

 

My streamers perform completely reliably through wall wart extenders while I cannot get my iPad to refresh the page. Providing top vinyl level sound quality with a minimum of throughput.

 

You can see my systems under my UserID.