Powerline Ethernet Bridges

[Lunchie]

Has anyone had any experiences with these?

I need to connect an ADSL router to a computer at the other end of the house. I've done a WiFi survey and the signal attenuation between the two locations is too high for a permanent link. Then I spotted a writeup on these ethernet-over-mains powerline routers and thought, aha!

But before I rush off and spend £70 on a pair i'd thought I'd ask here first.

My principal concern is whether they'll actually connect as the chances of the two sockets I've got in mind being on the same ring are tiny. Does that matter? can these things cross on to different rings via the fuse box?

All info/insights welcome.

[Metier9]

I guess powerline works like a Hub, and in the same style as an electrical bus?

[Sinizter]

Powerline should work for you. There is an option to use a powerline repeater in between to improve network performance if the signal is too weak between the links.

[b0redom]

I tried it and it was rubbish. I got the 200MBit Netgear ones. Had 3 sets of them, and connectivity was between about 70MBit down to 7Kbit.

Ok for very light web browsing, but anything else and you're stuffed. I contacted Netgear who said "Well it depends on your house wiring of course. Do you have any industrial lighting - that might cause problems... Could you try in a different house?" Not terribly useful.

Now, I have 802.11n around the house. Full signal everywhere in an extended 3 bedroom semi. I even bridge 2 segments in this way. Far faster and more reliable.

[jimbouk]

We just drilled holes round the house and ran cable everywhere - well worth it in the long run. Wifi is all well and good but trying to backup a few gig over it was just too much hassle.

We had a hub in the front left of the house. 1 cable run through the window frame (wood), under the roof, round the side of the house and down to the basement at the rear right of the house. Another run went up into the eves in the roof and to a bedroom at the top right. A couple of short runs and that was the house wired.

Can you get to outside easily, or what about under the floor boards? 100m of wire, a dozen RJ45 ends and a crimping tool should set you back around £30 or so.

[Lunchie]

3 sets! Wow, now that's what I call commitment

I'll check out 11n. I've been avoiding it cos it hasn't been ratified yet, but I guess that won't matter if I get matched kit.
But I'm not sure I'll help unless it operates on a markedly different frequency.

Thx Peeps

[Lunchie]

We just drilled holes round the house and ran cable everywhere ...

Unfortunately, it's not my house - it's my folks' and they'll not take kindly to me ripping into it with a power drill

For the record, I agree with you - I've done something similar myself.

I'm looking in for a "low impact" solution.

[flcherb]

Yeah the ethernet over power is crap stay away at all costs. the n standard is not yet finalised and they keep making changes so be aware of that it you buy a device now it might not be compatable when the standard gets finalised. puting structured cable in a house is the best way round then you can get great speeds of up to 1000 Mbps. Get CAT 5e or 6 if you are going tro do this.

Herb

[Steve]

I'll check out 11n. I've been avoiding it cos it hasn't been ratified yet, but I guess that won't matter if I get matched kit.

I think they just approved Draft 2 (or is it 3?), so it's close to being ratified now... they just have to play with the wording a bit.

Bottom line is technologically, it looks like current '11n' kit should interoperate OK, although it might not operate at full speed.

[b0redom]

Thing is though 802.11n kit is so cheap - I think I paid just over 100 quid for a ADSL/router/switch + free PCI NIC. In addition, it'll work with a+b+g devices you have already, but with a better range (in my experience).

I had 2 sets, of the Eth-over-power adapters as I had lots of devices I wanted to connect

- Server+NAS in one location
- DSL Router in another location
- PC in another location
- Media centre in another location

Despite plugging all sorts of different combinations, I still got really sucky performance. My supplier sent me a new set of kit, and that sucked too!

[Lunchie]

Thing is though 802.11n kit is so cheap - I think I paid just over 100 quid for a ADSL/router/switch + free PCI NIC.

Which 11n ADSL router did you go for as a matter of interest?

[b0redom]

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?NGR-DG834N

Can't find the package with the PCI nic bundle, althogh I've only tried novatech and scan. They both have the pcmcia nic free though....

[Lunchie]

IC what you mean - very cheap ...

Thx

[suniil]

I have slightly different openion, i've powerline adapters between router and my pinnacle showcenter 200. I'm able to stream audio/SD video without any problem, but impossible to stream HD video

[Vini]

My Netgear 200mbit things (HDX101?) run at around 80mbps-170mbps. Fine for streaming vids. Not tried HD video though.

I found that the units performed better when you installed the software on a PC and tweaked them a bit.

Beats Wifi any day of the week.

[Lourdes]

I always go with external cat5 runs in this situation. Only the one hole in the wall.