HomePlug/Powerline?

[chazdraves]

Well, I've ran a WiFi connection in my house for a number of years now without many problems, but the occasional issues and the overall WiFi congestion that's taken up in my neighborhood has me thinking more and more about setting up a wired network within my home. Problem is, I really hate that kind of work and have little interest in running Cat5. So, I've been doing reading on Powerline devices such as this:

http://www.amazon.com/ZyXEL-PLA401v3.../ref=pd_cp_e_3

My understanding is that I plug one right into my router and one right into a computer and then I buy as many of these:

http://www.amazon.com/ZyXEL-PLA401v3..._bxgy_e_text_b

as I like and they'll automatically tie into the Internet connection from my router. Will they also be networked to the other devices automatically?

I realize the quality of such a device varies by the quality of your electrical wiring, but does anyone care to share their experiences? Longevity of such a device - do they crap out after a year?

Thanks for your time!
- Chaz

 

[Eug]

Do a search of this forum, as it's been discussed a few times.

Basically think of it like CAT5e cable, but with much slower speeds and less reliable connections. In other words, as long as the wiring in your house supports it well, it should be invisible to your router. Nothing really to configure (besides potentially encryption passwords just once, on the unit's software itself, not with the client). It just works.

However, despite being less reliable than CAT5e, it may be more reliable than wireless at medium to longer distances.

I used mine for a couple of years. Mine were old refurbs but worked fine. In fact, I left one of my units outside under a roof ledge all year long and it survived our Canadian winter just fine (even though it's not supposed to be used below 5 degrees C).

However, I eventually retired them, and just installed CAT5e/CAT6, because I wanted Gigabit Ethernet. With those AV "200 Mbps" units, you'd be doing well to hit 50 Mbps reliably, and may be more in the 10-30 Mbps range depending on your wiring. 10 Mbps doesn't seem like much, even compared to wireless, until you realize you may get that 10 Mbps even 100 feet away through walls, whereas with wireless you may get nothing, or else slow speeds and flaky connections.

 

[zuffy]

I always have doubt regarding the electrical in my old house that is built in the 1920's. Last week when Amazon had the Trendnet Powerline 500 on sale for 70 bucks, I took a chance. I was using the Linksys WRT54GL to bridge for my Dish DVR and WD Live TV. It was connecting at 36mbps at best and unreliability. Can't stream even 720p MKV movies.

First run, I had both adapters in 2 old 15A circuits - first floor and second floor. I was utilizing about 5% continuously of the 1GB connection. The previous owner installed dedicated 20A circuits to each of the bedrooms probably for AC. These newer circuits are probably 12 years old. So at the router end, I have the adapter plugged in to the newer circuit. My utlilization improved to about 14% continuously of the 1GB connection. I am pretty sure if my first floor has the newer dedicated circuit too, my speed would be better than the 14% utilization. Now, I can stream 1080p MKV movies with ease.