Homeplug question?

[Hawker1986]

Hey guys,

I had a question about how well different models of homeplug play together. Basically Ive got 3 of these in my network:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/newli...or-single-pack

One of them keeps dropping out with big file transfers requiring me to unplug and replug it in, its definately the homeplug as moving it around causes wherever I put it to drop off so its not a point in the wiring or a specific PC. Now would my homeplugs still all talk if I got one of these instead to add in:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/newli...omeplug-single

Cheers for the advice guys.

Hawker

[oolon]

If its faulty your have to return it, using the mains for data can be a bit hit and miss so test to make sure first. Put two plugs fault and good on a 4 plug then see if it works, if it fails, swop the bad out out for your good one, and see if its works without problems, if it does return the bad one. If the all work, you have to work out what wiring you can bridge and what you cannot.

[Bagnaj97]

Homeplug gear from different manufacturers should play nicely, but 85Mb/s gear wont talk to 200+Mb/s gear. 85 and 200+ networks can co-exist, i.e. you can have 2 networks over your powerlines, but they wont talk to each other. I believe the new gigabit powerline adapters are backwards compatible with the 200Mb/s stuff, but again wont talk to 85Mb/s.

[Hawker1986]

If its faulty your have to return it, using the mains for data can be a bit hit and miss so test to make sure first. Put two plugs fault and good on a 4 plug then see if it works, if it fails, swop the bad out out for your good one, and see if its works without problems, if it does return the bad one. If the all work, you have to work out what wiring you can bridge and what you cannot.

Ive already tested them by moving them around + swapping etc, I'm quite convinced that its the homeplug thats at fault.

Hawker

[oolon]

I assume they are all bought from the same range at the same time? If so I don't see how it can be a compatibility problem. I see little other option but to try a return/replacement, if they have a fault then this is not unreasonable to expect them to work.

[Tattysnuc]

I used to use the homeplugs, and it depends on the standard that they comply to as to whether they are compatible. The comments above are all absolutely correct in as much as 200 Mbit are not compatible with 85Mbit as they use a different homeplug standard. I think the 85mb one is version 1.3, and the 200Mbit one is a different revision which is not compatible.

I had one of my 200Mbit plugs go on me which was similar to the symptoms that you describe. The plug would get hot, and need to be unplugged for operation to return to normal. There was a recall on these, but I'd bought mine off Ebay, and had no recourse as they were second hand. Make sure that you've NOT got one of the faulty BT issued ones as these were recalled due to a potential "risk of fire"

You probably haven't got one of these, but just to make sure:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4...-adapters.html

Not sure if that's any help, but assuming that it's not one of these that were faulty, the test methodology that was stated by using a 4 gang and testing for continuity is definitely the way to go - it'll ensure you can be absolutely certain it's a plug dropping off and not the socket that you're using having an intermittent fault on it. We had our house rewired and CAT 5e cable installed simultaneously to replace my Homeplug network. The sparky found a neutral fault on a couple of the sockets, and once this had been fixed, some of the "glitches" (dropped connection, slow transfer rates) seemed to improve afterwards. It wasn't a patch on the CAT 5e cable that we had installed, so I cabled in the rest of the house

I saw a comparison of wireless vs homeplug vs cabled (I think it was in Custom PC) and cabled came out as the clear winner, with one of the observations of the homeplug system being that it didn't sustain bandwidth. My limited experience (about 2 years with 85Mb ones, then about 6 months with the 200Mbit versions) certainly echoed their findings. It does a job, but if you're going to be relying on it for media streaming or transferring large files, it's not ideal.

My tuppence worth....

[oolon]

I would echo the "wire it" if you can line, at the moment in my new house I am joining two bits of network together with Wi-Fi (and have for the last month), One access point is in Access point mode (because its brain damaged Linksys gear and thats is all it can do), the other (Dlink) is in client mode. DNS stopped resolving for my system and I found that the Dlink wifi in client mode seemed to have gone "weird", a had to power cycle fixed it. Cables are the way to go if you can. The AP and the internet is downstairs but my server is upstairs every time my laptop wants to talk to upstairs it has to be retransmitted, I will be installing wiring as soon as I have a free moment.

[Unique]

what do you guys do to measure the speed of homeplugs?

i've had a pair of devolo 85mps homeplugs for the past 5 or 6 years, and found them great, albeit slow for transferring big files or streaming from the other room. i'm not sure if i'm getting the full speed of the plug, i don't know if it's maybe my old wiring and having most plug sockets in the flat used by something, and having loads of plugboards going into them (though the homeplugs are direct into the mains socket), thus i don't know if i could increase my speed by getting say the 200mps or gigabit ones

if there was a really good deal for the fastest ones at about £50 a pair, it might be worth a try, but even £50 is a lot to waste if i'm not going to get any improvement

does anyone have any help/tips/comments on the above?

[Tattysnuc]

I actually timed files transferring. When streaming I used to get a notable stutter in the broadcast of files, so in things like the opening credits of "Big Bang Theory" the sound and picture used to physically grind to a halt for a few seconds before continuing to play at double speed while it tried to catch up.

I found this test methodology...

http://www.avforums.com/forums/netwo...rformance.html

[Hawker1986]

Unfortunately I rent so running CAT5 is off the cards, much is the shame ideally that is exactly what I do. I'm planning on moving in the next year or so, so this is really just a stop gap measure until then. Basically this homeplug was attached to my router and I was streaming 1080p content from my server (directly attached to the router) to my HTPC (via another homeplug). It bombed out the connection to anything connected to a homeplug. I then swapped the homeplug with the one at my main desktop and now I steam beautifully, but transferring data from the desktop to the server causes my desktop PC to drop. Hence it must the be the homeplug, also just unplugging it (and nothing else) then putting it straight back in fixes the issue. Its runs fine for internet etc, just big data transfers kill it, and even then its intermittent.

(hope all that makes sense)

Hawker

[Tattysnuc]

If you can identify a specific plug that is causing the fault, then your best bet is to RMA it. I've still got 3 or 4 of the homeplugs kicking around somewhere (85 mbit ones) becasue I didn't think people were still using them. Might plonk them on ebay

In answer to is it normal, mine needed to be power-cycled sometimes due to a loss in performance. It wasn't limited to a specific one, and it was usually the one behind the piano (typical eh!) so access was never easy.

I wouldn't waste your money on a newer model, especially if you're looking to move. Seriously look into cabling as it's dead easy - even I managed it!

In the mean time, can you not use wireless n? I believe that's supposed to be quicker, but I've avoided wireless because I've got solid brick walls in our house, and cannot maintain a connection 2 rooms away from my Linksys 655 router, let alone floors away.

You could always run cables round on top of or under skirting boards. I did it to come up the stairs for a while for my wife's work PC (She got sick of the dropped connection over the homeplugs with my former torrent habit) and that was done quite inconspicuously.

failing that, there was a feature that I saw on my Asus motherboard that allowed you to use 2 network ports together to form an effective 1 that is faster, but never looked into it. If you have a couple of spare homeplugs this might help boost your speed. Doesn't stop you having to power cycle them though...

Sorry!

[Hawker1986]

Yeah, the flat is seriously not laid out for running cables anywhere but in the walls, doors are the way and all sorts, genuinely too much hassle. Our flat is in an old radio station so basically wireless is god awful thanks to all the insulation, a distinct no go tried it already.

I think ill just grab one if it should just work fine, I cant really afford to lose my network while its RMA'd, not to mention scan have none in stock to send out to me atm. None of the other plugs have ever needed cycling in months, so I think it must just be this one.

Thanks for all the input guys.

Hawker

[Lucio]

There's a trick to cabling, don't run it along the skirting board until you're on the right wall, run it along the ceiling join and you usually avoid all door related issues

[Bagnaj97]

There's a trick to cabling, don't run it along the skirting board until you're on the right wall, run it along the ceiling join and you usually avoid all door related issues

Alternatively if you're doing straight runs you can buy flat cat5 cables on ebay which are perfect for running under the carpet.

[DBee]

Alternatively if you're doing straight runs you can buy flat cat5 cables on ebay which are perfect for running under the carpet.

There's often enough space between the carpet grips at the edge of a room and the wall to run cable too.

Just lift the carpet a bit put your cable in the gap and put the carpet down again

[Tattysnuc]

Wish I'd known about flat cable.... would have made cabling upstairs easier and CLEANER. Ender up digging a channel in the wall and chasing the cable through. Had to redecorate. Mind you, this couldn't have been avoided as they were putting in a mains loom as well (making sure that the Cat 5 was a minimum distance away.

I learnt how to plaster long thin channels though. Dead pleased with the job. Might have a look on ebay at lunchtime for some flat cable to see what it costs and how flat it is....