Tell me more about the wd livewire

WD Legacy Products My Net Networking Devices
1

So has anyone gotten this product yet? I am a real WD Fanboy, and think this would be great to use when vacationing so I can put a computer in any room and still access the net. How well does it work? Can you use it to stream media from one device to anoother?

EDIT: 200th post! Woohoo!

2

i have one, still haven’t had time to set it up, but it looks very very interesting.

will be nice to plug the laptop (netbook) in upstairs and surf quickly and access my network more easily.

3

Let me know when you’ve got it all hooked up. I’m really curious how well it works.

4

I’ve got one. Very easy to set up.
Claims to connect at up to 140Mbit but I’ve never gotten sustained transfers above 24Mbit.
Easily fast enough for 720p content, stuttered on my 1080p test file.
Pretty impressed with it. Don’t think well see any better powerline technology until the new faster chipsets come out.

5

I just set mine up. According to Livewire Utility I am getting a low of 82 Mbps to a high of 101 Mbps. I don’t know how old my wiring is, I would guess between 10 - 15 years old. Speed seems to be affected by how many lights, appliances are turned on in the immediate area. Anyhow, I have only had them up and running for about 30 minutes. I must say my internet connection seems pretty solid.

6

Yes, I own a set of the Livewire products. Don’t expect 200 mbps Even if you use the same plug to test the units expect 120mbps tops. Generally expect about 54mbps 4 ports per unit great! Reliable, easy setup, overpriced. I put a unit on my WD TV-lIVE HUB because powerline connection beats n+ wireless for reliability.

7

Hi Ardvak,

I have asked the similar question to them too. They replied and  mentioned that they have not released this new innovation product yet into the market. They told me that they are looking for the right global business partner to work with to get this innovation rolling into the market. I am also a lover of PLC Technology. We have hear so many comments about the overall  performance of  PLC and they do not perform any close to the stated throughput of 200Mbps. Yes, you are right!, it will real handy to plug & play + stream HD media from one device to another via powerline without  the hassel of pulling CAT5 or CAT6 cables and or getting weak signals from WiFi router. I am looking forward to their product launching too.

Cheers!

8

Howdy Brucered,

I guess you mean you have one pair of these device ya. Because it needs one pair (2 pcs) for it to work.

Cheers!

9

Hi PixelPower,

Yes it is quite easy to set up. You may not get the good tranfer rate due to noises in the powerline that makes the signal or throughput  drop.  You may want to check  the news on the faster chipsets ie 500Mbps and 1000 Mbps chipsets that have been incoporated by some powerline adapters manufacturers, and sadly to said that, these  higher specification chipsets PLC adapters do not perform any close to their stated performance.

10

Hi DiggerG,

Yes all these PLC adapters performances are somehow depends on the condition of the powerline  and which phase are you connecting them in your building or premise. If you are using for surfing internet, is more that sufficient, but if you are planning to do streaming of HD then you may find issue of lagging, buffering, pixelation and jittering on the HD video and audio.

11

One thing you might keep in mind is that the Homplug AV2 standard is being released in 2011. I’ll bet you WD will release an updated (much faster) Homeplug AV2 based livewire product…SOON!!! This will solve must US customer networking issues. I’ll also bet you the current livewire product can’t be firmware upgraded to HomePlug Av2 standard.

12

I havewo of these units in operation for over a week now. Solid as a rock!!! I take back what said about it being overpriced…got it for $99 and I feel (today) it was worth every cent!!! full 100mbps! put the wireless N+ connection to shame!!! I recommend it!

13

NYTEMAYR wrote:
I havewo of these units in operation for over a week now. Solid as a rock!!! I take back what said about it being overpriced…got it for $99 and I feel (today) it was worth every cent!!! full 100mbps! put the wireless N+ connection to shame!!! I recommend it!

What two units are you referring to?

1 Like
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Re: Tell me more about the wd livewire Tuesday -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NYTEMAYR wrote: I havewo of these units in operation for over a week now. Solid as a rock!!! I take back what said about it being overpriced…got it for $99 and I feel (today) it was worth every cent!!! full 100mbps! put the wireless N+ connection to shame!!! I recommend it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What two units are you referring to? Livewire discussion

15

This WD Livewire (Powerline Communication Adapters) from WD are the best so far reviews by Dong Ngo from CNET, Link: http://reviews.cnet.com/bridges/western-digital-wd-livewire/4505-3304_7-34161837.html. Yes! These powerline adapter devices can be use in all wall outlets within the same meter reading. I have use it and tested it in the real life setting and I got the highest reading of around mid 70’s Mbps.  Hope this helps.:smiley:

16

Can you add extra room out lets to the system or is it 2 unit specific  

17

Noob question:

Would it also share my WD TV Live Hub’s medias inside and outside the local network?

I mean a WD TV Live connected to the net via Livewire, would it be able to be accessed wirelessly?

18

caihooligan wrote:

Noob question:

Would it also share my WD TV Live Hub’s medias inside and outside the local network?

I mean a WD TV Live connected to the net via Livewire, would it be able to be accessed wirelessly?

NO.   The Live Wire is NOT a Wireless interface.

19

So what do you think, would it be a nice workaround if I would use an ethernet splitter plugged into the Live Hub?

One ethernet port would then be cabled to the Livewire for LAN connectivity; the second one would host a Netgear WNCE2001 for wireless sharing.

20

caihooligan wrote:

So what do you think, would it be a nice workaround if I would use an ethernet splitter plugged into the Live Hub?

One ethernet port would then be cabled to the Livewire for LAN connectivity; the second one would host a Netgear WNCE2001 for wireless sharing.

I think you’re making it more complicated than it needs to be.

You’d have a Livewire unit plugged into the Live Hub.  The other Livewire would be plugged into the Router.

Any device that connects to your router should be able to see and connect to the Live Hub (assuming your router supports wired and wireless connections).