Home network improvement suggestions - powerline or router

[catskull]

Hey everyone, first time poster here so please go easy on me. I hope this is in the correct section.

I'm looking to improve my home network performance.

I live in a small-ish apartment so I deal with the usual wireless network issues that come along with that. I'm fortunate though because my complex provides me with a dedicated 1Gbps line. The problem is that the only ethernet jack to plug my router in is in a horrible location. Here's an image that shows my floorplan as well as where my devices are positioned:

My router is in a little bookshelf/desk area that's built into the apartment.

Here's some info on what equipment I'm using:
Theater PC: Home built, wired into the router.
Office PC: 13" Macbook Pro Retina
Printer: Samsung Wireless xpress m2020w
IP Cam: Foscam, not sure which model.
Router: dlink n600

My problem is that my office PC gets horrible connection, both in speed and quality. The theater PC gets ~600Mbps down, while my office get's ~5Mbps down if I'm lucky. More than that, the connection is just spotty, cutting and in and out. It also doesn't help that my microwave is on the other side of the wall from the router! The IP cam also gets a very poor connection, as does the printer. It does seem like my phone performs better in the office than my computer does. I've tried to optimize the channel my router uses using an app for my phone, but that didn't seem to help much.

What I'm looking for is purchasing advice where I can get the most bang for my buck. Initially I wanted to get a powerline adapter kit and move my existing router back to the office and set up a switch for the theater pc, but I'm hesitant to do that out of fear the the powerline kit won't perform well in my apartment. I've also considered upgrading my router in hopes it will pump out a better signal to beat out all my neighbors. I'm just not sure what my best option is, which is why I'm asking here!

Any advice would be much appreciated. And if I am neglecting any important details please let me know! Thanks!

 

[thiggins]

How does that Gigabit service come into the apartment?

Even the latest AV2 MIMO powerline adapters will not provide more than 500 Mbps. And they'll do that only if the two adapters are in the same room. So not a good idea to use powerline to move the WAN connection for your router.

However, powerline should provide more throughput to the office than wireless.

If you have cable coax in each of the rooms, MoCA could be a better option.

 

[catskull]

Gigabit comes in via an ethernet port. I know it's an unusual configuration, but it's what I have.

I'm not looking for anything crazy fast. I mean, currently I'm on 5Mbps so even if I got ~300Mbps back to the router that would be more than enough for me. And I'd still have the full 600Mbps on the theater pc.

Unfortunately I don't have cable either in any of the rooms. Heck, I don't even have phone jacks in the entire apartment.

So it seems like powerline adapter might be my best bet and keep my existing router?

 

[thiggins]

Yeah, try a pair of the latest HomePlug AV2 MIMO adapters. Here are our rankings.

 

[System Error Message]

i have the same thing, an ethernet line to my place but i dont get full line speeds because of ISP packages. You can try to neatly wire things using flat ethernet cables which should go nicely under doors and such and it should give you performance. Unless you try unrealistic use of wifi you're not going to see much in speeds but it is possible to get 90% of rated bandwidth if you kept sending traffic but only benchmark applications do that.

if you dont need the speed you can use wifi unless you expect to be streaming raw files from your home theater. File transfers are also much better on wire.

 

[KenZ71]

Wired ethernet is always best.

I would either run ethernet along the baseboards or ceiling. If you need to conceal try pre primed trim available at home centers

 

[farfromovin]

I had a similar situation. My single router, rt-n66u, wasn't cutting it. At first I tried the PowerLine adapters. I tried all the top brands and they all created wireless interference that would shut my wifi network down for about a minute at random times. I think it all depends on your homes wiring but if it works, the latest zyxel PowerLine adapters are awesome!
I returned my adapters and got a newer router, Netgear R8000, and was blown away in signal increase. Plus, I have 2.4ghz for all my non speed dependant stuff, 1 5ghz band for my mobile devices, and another 5ghz band for my media streaming devices. Very over built but if you don't go overboard on wifi it'll just let you down.
Ultimately, I'd rather run ethernet through the house and have 2 or 3 access points but that's not an option for me.