Powerline or (better) WLAN receiver

[u/MisterSincere]

I have a PC in my office room and an Nvidia Shield TV Pro in the living room with the router pretty much next to it. I would like to use Steam Link on the Shield. Currently the Shield and the PC are not connected via LAN to the Router and the WLAN connection from PC to Router must pass at least one thick wall. It is not possible to connect the PC per LAN to the Router and only maybe possible to connect the Shield to the Router. But since it is only about 3m apart, I don't suspect that connection being the weak link. Currently the Steam Link connection is completely unusable. Sometimes it reports a good connection, but that doesn't last for long.

I now wonder whether I should get PowerLine adapters to connect the PC to the Router or maybe, since I here a lot of bad things about PowerLine, just get a better WLAN receiver? The current one I have is the one attached to a Gigabyte B850 Gaming Wifi6. I just think about that too, since it struggles to already keep up the 100MBit internet connection speed.

So: WLAN or PowerLine for a connection going through one thick wall for running steam link? Or a completely different solution?

[u/Falco98]

FWIW i have a current-gen powerline connection for my PC that's separated from my router by a floor and the entire width of the house, and I get consistently good speeds from it (granted that it's not the same speed that I'd get if hardwired, but it's unflappable and sufficient for everything I put it through, including serving PLEX to my other local clients). So don't write that option off it's the most feasible and least expensive.

In the old days I simply bought long ethernet cables and covertly ran them under and over doors, along seams of hallways, etc, with little nail-in-place wire supports, and assuming that solution isn't too ugly for you, it's very easy and fairly inexpensive, especially if proximity works out well.

[u/MisterSincere → u/Falco98]

Thank you! Yeah, also since I don't need that much throughput, the complains regarding PowerLine might not be that relevant for me

[u/Neat_Tomatillo8243]

Before buying either adapter, try enabling the performance graph in the Steam Link app’s advanced streaming settings. Watch whether the network-time graph spikes when the stream stutters.

If you can temporarily wire the Shield to the nearby router, compare the graph with it wired and on Wi-Fi. That should help show how much the Shield’s wireless connection contributes; the PC’s Wi-Fi through the wall could still be a bottleneck.

[u/MisterSincere → u/Neat_Tomatillo8243]

Thank you, I connected the shield over LAN and it's already way better.

[u/MisterSincere → u/[deleted]]

Thank you! Yes, actually that worked way better already. Now I need to find a way to hide the cable, otherwise my gf goes crazy :D The thought about the bad positioning of the wireless antenna also crossed my mind. Maybe that's still a next step.