Powerline Adapters

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networkn

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#196850 15-Jun-2016 12:02

Hi.

We have a customer with a requirement for wired connections but his house isn't really compatible with internal wiring and he doesn't want capping.

I haven't used powerline adapters for a long time, but the last time I used them, the limitation was you could only use them on a single circuit.

Is this still the case?

Is there an option to try before you buy through any of the wholesale distributors?

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#1572283 15-Jun-2016 12:08

Have used half a dozen of these in the last 3 years in the homes of various business clients where required including a set of 5 in a sprawling spanish-style villa. The signal will pass through the internal distribution board but be attenuated somewhat.

I've never seen a try-before-you-buy, but like and have used in several places the set that CDL have with the pass-through power connections. Multi-way power boards do bad things for the signal strength so these should be avoided and the pass-thru power connection is a big help in this area.

Expect to have to power them off every couple of months to re-sync the connection between the units.

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#1572284 15-Jun-2016 12:10

Dynamic:

Have used half a dozen of these in the last 3 years in the homes of various business clients where required including a set of 5 in a sprawling spanish-style villa. The signal will pass through the internal distribution board but be attenuated somewhat.

I've never seen a try-before-you-buy, but like and have used in several places the set that CDL have with the pass-through power connections. Multi-way power boards do bad things for the signal strength so these should be avoided and the pass-thru power connection is a big help in this area.

Expect to have to power them off every couple of months to re-sync the connection between the units.

Cool thanks! I was thinking of the TPlink ones, or the netgear 1200's all seem to review quite well.

MikeB4

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#1572288 15-Jun-2016 12:12

I have found power line products flaky. We tried them in our Lockwood as its hard to wire. What about replacing the skirting boards and running cable through them, that is what we have done.

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#1572289 15-Jun-2016 12:14

MikeB4:

I have found power line products flaky. We tried them in our Lockwood as its hard to wire. What about replacing the skirting boards and running cable through them, that is what we have done.

How long ago was that ?

This is a nice home with lots of "concrete" walls and hardwood floors, lots of glass.

MikeB4

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#1572294 15-Jun-2016 12:17

networkn:

MikeB4:

I have found power line products flaky. We tried them in our Lockwood as its hard to wire. What about replacing the skirting boards and running cable through them, that is what we have done.

How long ago was that ?

This is a nice home with lots of "concrete" walls and hardwood floors, lots of glass.

in the process of doing it. When finished the new skirting externally look no different to the old ones.

t0ny

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#1572295 15-Jun-2016 12:19

i found the powerline stuff stable but performance varies a lot. My recent deployment ranged from speeds from 10mbps to 30mbps. This is on a brand new house.

wasabi2k

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#1572299 15-Jun-2016 12:23

Yep - it is 100% a suck it and see. I get 30-40Mbps through my 1980's house wiring.

Some people cannot get them to connect at all.

Some people love them.

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#1572304 15-Jun-2016 12:26

Powerline are very much a suck it & see sort of thing, unfortunately.
If it doesnt work reliably on a site then you get stuck with the kit . Just the way it is.
Its also subject to mains noise and bad mains wiring, & Ive seen the sync/connect speed between devices going up & down .

The last home I did , one rooms powerline just wasnt reliable enough (mains wiring issue) and dropped out after I left the site
so had to go back & move it to another room, leaving that room with poor wifi (and that person was the one who complained the most)

I now allways emphasis that its a 'best effort only' sort of tech when installing.

Powerline is improving, the recent devices seem much more reliable than those I sold 3 years ago.
But ,The support/setup instructions can be all too vague unless you want the defaults . Just awefull.
The remote device used different setup software than the main unit , really confusing as not stated at all in the instructions ,the remote devices config app was hard to find

MadEngineer

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#1572308 15-Jun-2016 12:30

another trick for these situations is to lift up the edge of the carpet and run it in the little gap there

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Lias

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#1572310 15-Jun-2016 12:33

I use some 5-6 year old Netgear AV200 adapters at one location and they work wonderfully.

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup.

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#1572311 15-Jun-2016 12:33

MadEngineer: another trick for these situations is to lift up the edge of the carpet and run it in the little gap there

Sadly no carpet :)

SepticSceptic

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#1572329 15-Jun-2016 12:52

I have 4 of the TPlInk AV500's thru the house and adjoining workshop. Works well, thruput can be spotty at times, depending on wiring.

3 of them have good thruput, easily handling 1080 mkv's and security camera streaming simultaneously. not too sure on the bi-directional characteristics though - streaming down from a server, and uploading up back to the server seems to cause a bit of a bother.

As above, power boards tend to play havoc with the carrier signal, especially those with "surge suppression"

And dicky mototrs / flouros /

Also used at customer sites, no major issues.

tatbaird

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#1572338 15-Jun-2016 12:59

Have you tried convincing the customer that some robust 5GHz wireless could be the answer? I prefer ethernet as well, and consider wifi an adjunct, but that's enterprise. Is this a family home, with just that kind of usage?

Is it possible to get under the house? Something I have done in the past is drill a cable sized hole in the floor and run the cable through the crawlspace. You can keep it out of sight and tidy with some planning.

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#1572362 15-Jun-2016 13:12

tatbaird:

Have you tried convincing the customer that some robust 5GHz wireless could be the answer? I prefer ethernet as well, and consider wifi an adjunct, but that's enterprise. Is this a family home, with just that kind of usage?

Is it possible to get under the house? Something I have done in the past is drill a cable sized hole in the floor and run the cable through the crawlspace. You can keep it out of sight and tidy with some planning.

We have tried a couple of Wireless devices, the concrete seems to be causing issues, or there is some interference. Floors aren't an option, concrete base as best we can tell.

tatbaird

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#1572369 15-Jun-2016 13:20

Yeah, you could use several mesh capable access points, but would be too expensive probably.

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