Anyone tried a Powerline Kit to connect a non-wireless printer?

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Huskie

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#270250 30-Apr-2020 15:47

Anyone tried doing this?

Have a Zebra printer that I want to set up across my room since there's no place it can sit around my workstation. Given the way the room is laid out, I don't want to run an ethernet cable as it will be a tripping hazard so thinking about a powerline setup.

I understand powerlines may not work well if your home has poor wiring. But aside from that, are there any issues with this plan?

Admittedly I've never owned a powerline kit so maybe it's not as simple as I envision. Didn't want to go out and buy a PL kit if it has no chance of working.

cyril7

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#2474158 30-Apr-2020 15:55

Hi, do you know if your home is wired as a single phase or not, a photo of the switchboard might help us understand, but if its just a simple single phase setup then it should be good.

The only issue I have with PLC equipment is that the connection is prone to issues as devices connect or place load on the local cabling network, ie device load at 50Hz can impact how signals at way higher frequencies work. That said modern PLC systems use OFDM technology that allows them to move spectrum usage to avoid these issues.

I assume you have reasonable wireless in your work area, could you not use a wifi client to acheive the same?

Cyril

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#2474382 1-May-2020 09:30

Yes, the powerline kit should work very well for you, assuming you have an average home with single phase power and its only a couple of rooms away. I've used these a number of times successfully, and my only note is that they needs a power cycle every month or two in my experience.

I was using a set from the house out to the detatched garage and it wasn't super fast but worked well.

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linw

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#2474393 1-May-2020 09:39

Go for it. The odds of it working well are very high. I bought a D-link AV2 1000 from PB Tech a while ago to connect a computer and it was great.

Couldn't be simpler to install. Plug each unit into a socket and connect one to your router and the other to the printer with supplied cables and that's it!

jlittle

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#2474414 1-May-2020 10:10

Been using Tp-Link powerline units for a printer (and a second wi-fi, a desktop, occasional laptops) since 2015. It's been plug and forget. I'm in a standalone 1950s house, with a mix of wiring from over the years.

Regards, John Little

andrewNZ

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#2474423 1-May-2020 10:30

Something like this might be easier if you have wifi.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETTPL0850/TP-Link-TL-WA850RE-N300-Wi-Fi-Range-Extender-1-x-L

(Edited for clarity)

robjg63

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#2474497 1-May-2020 11:34

andrewNZ: Something like this might be easier if you have wifi.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETTPL0850/TP-Link-TL-WA850RE-N300-Wi-Fi-Range-Extender-1-x-L

(Edited for clarity)

If the wifi in the area is not too bad then this idea (above) looks the best solution to me - also a bit cheaper than a pair of powerline devices.

It would also have the by product of improving your wifi in the immediate area.

I used a pair of powerline units in a house built around 2001 - The speed did seem to go up and down quite a bit at times - I was trying to stream fairly small video files (movie around 700mb) and it sometimes went a bit silly (very slow) for no reason I could track down. Also (as someone else noted), they seemed to need a restart every few weeks or so.

I used these https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETTPL0410/TP-Link-TL-PA4010P-KIT-AV600-Powerline-Kit-with-AC - maybe its obvious - but if you do go the powerline option, make sure the units have pass-thru power plugs.

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Huskie

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#2474936 1-May-2020 18:28

Got a bit sidetracked with work yesterday and forgot to come back to post.

After reading some of your suggestions, I repurposed an old router to extend wifi/act as my switch to the printer. Can't believe I didn't think of this first. It's all set up and working perfectly.

Cheers all 👍