Homeplug/Powerline network?

[Edorf]

Hey all, I decided that it was time for me to get a proper gaming computer at my apartment, as weekend playing at my parents place would not cut it anymore (with guild wars 2 comming and all :3). I do however have a slight problem - the router is in another room, and putting a cable there is simply not an option.

So, I have been looking at various ways of getting this new baby of mine wired up to the Internets. The Homeplug/Powerline struck my attention, and seemed pretty interesting. The problem is that I have no idea how the electricity works in the apartment (I'm basically renting half of the first floor in a relatively new house).

What I'm wondering is basically: What would be the best way for me to get my rig wired up? I'm not so much interested in losing any speed, but since I know close to nothing about networking either I dont know how hard it would be to maintain my 2.5Mb/s download speed?
PS: Obviously I'm looking for the cheapest solution possible without sacrificing any bandwidth.

Thanks in Advance

EDIT: Also, if I was to put a switch in the end of that powerline in order to get my xbox online aswell, would it affect my speed seeing as it has to go through all these components?

 

[evilneko]

I've never actually used Powerline equipment, but I can't imagine it being any worse than wireless. There are some interference concerns (what power-hungry devices are plugged in the same circuit or same outlet, for one) and of course, it's slower than ethernet. I would expect it to be better than wireless though.

2.5 Megabits is pretty slow, did you mean 2.5 MegaBytes, which would be roughly equivalent to 20 Megabits?

Online gaming doesn't require much bandwidth. Putting in a switch and connecting your console and PC shouldn't be a problem.


Still, it's not really all that hard to run a wire. I recently did it for my granddad, the cable's pretty much invisible. You can easily get wire that blends in with the environment. White walls? Get white wire, run along the molding at the bottom, snake it behind any obstacles.. keeps it pretty much invisible. Crimping tools (for making your own cable since you probably won't find one premade the length you need) can be expensive though. But an actual ethernet cable is going to be many, many times more reliable and fast.