powerline Ethernet/ electrical systems

mightyjongyo

Hey folks. So for various reasons, I am considering using Ethernet over power (aka powerline) to get wired Ethernet to two different room in the house. As far as I can tell, it seems to do what I want, namely, get me wired internet to both the upstairs and downstairs.

The one snag is that all the product descriptions I found state that it only works if the adapter things are plugged into the same electrical system.

So, what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that it only works if they are connected to the same breaker switch? That seems dumb because all the houses that I've lived in have a breaker for almost every room. Alternatively, tell me why this is a horrible idea.

Dr. Frenchenstein

I run mine on sockets that are on different breakers, so that wont be an issue. i think the only time it can be an issue is if you are in an apartment building that shares an electrical network. so basically, if anyone else had a powerline plug, their internet would interfere with yours, or they could leech yours.

Mine works like a charm, i highly recommend it and it's very user friendly (plug in, wait for lights to settle, open Redtube, profit)

Ruckus

mightyjongyo wrote:

Hey folks. So for various reasons, I am considering using Ethernet over power (aka powerline) to get wired Ethernet to two different room in the house. As far as I can tell, it seems to do what I want, namely, get me wired internet to both the upstairs and downstairs.

The one snag is that all the product descriptions I found state that it only works if the adapter things are plugged into the same electrical system.

So, what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that it only works if they are connected to the same breaker switch? That seems dumb because all the houses that I've lived in have a breaker for almost every room. Alternatively, tell me why this is a horrible idea.

Some facilities have multiple electrical grid connections, for instance a house with a 100A service to the house and a separate 50A service to the detached garage or shed. As long as both Ethernet over Power adapters are on circuits on the same service panel you should be fine.

Draygo

What ruckus said. Your outlets need to go to the same breaker panel in the house. If they go to different panels they wont network.

mightyjongyo

Oh, okay. That clears things up. Thanks for the help everyone.

bowen

Dr. Frenchenstein wrote: »

I run mine on sockets that are on different breakers, so that wont be an issue. i think the only time it can be an issue is if you are in an apartment building that shares an electrical network. so basically, if anyone else had a powerline plug, their internet would interfere with yours, or they could leech yours.

Mine works like a charm, i highly recommend it and it's very user friendly (plug in, wait for lights to settle, open Redtube, profit)

They shouldn't, each apartment needs to have it's own set of breakers by code IIRC. So long as it's one panel I think they work.

Dr. Frenchenstein

yeah, it's unlikely, but that's the only issue i could think of.

Pantshandshake

Powerline adapters work through any electrical outlets on the same circuit. For this purpose 'circuit' is pretty much defined as 'entire breaker box,' rather than individual breaker switches. I have a set of three running my delicious interwebs to two different rooms in my home, from a third room, all of which have a different breaker switch in the box. So, yeah, you should be fine.

kingmetal

I would suggest buying your PLN system through a retailer like Amazon so you can return it. I bought a Netgear 100megabit system this year and found that performance was drastically worse than my 802.11N system (30ms ping to router over PLN, like 5ms over 802.11N). I live in an apartment with, apparently, wiring that is made out of some kind of horsehair or something. I do not believe I had a common experience, but boy was it nice to just put the thing back in a box and have Amazon give me my monies back. THANKS AMAZON.

mightyjongyo

Yea, I ended up getting an actiontec set off amazon. The reviews looked pretty good but we'll see I guess. I'm glad they make these, I was afraid I would have to stick with wireless or pay for another internet account/cable modem.

Thanks again for your help guys.

Carpy

mightyjongyo wrote: »

Yea, I ended up getting an actiontec set off amazon. The reviews looked pretty good but we'll see I guess. I'm glad they make these, I was afraid I would have to stick with wireless or pay for another internet account/cable modem.

Thanks again for your help guys.

I just snagged the actiontec from bestbuy today. Haven't had alot of time to play with it but setup was quick and it's working like a charm so far.

Adus

So yeah this isn't my topic but it's more specific to my issue. I recently acquired a powerline adapter since my wireless wasn't working too well. I noticed some warnings that circuits need to be on the same breaker while others said it didn't matter I decided to give them a shot anyway.

I live in a condo next to other units, so I honestly don't entirely know how our electrical system is laid out, but the adapters just do not seem to work well at all. I get a connection but it hitches every few moments. There will be (very) short periods of good speed but then it's back to taking forever. Even loading webpages seems to stress it. For example this very forum. It'll load the actual form after like 5 long seconds, and then take an extra 20 seconds to load the ad bar at the top.

This is the model I got: http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/support/powerline/PLSK400

It's connected through a router but that shouldn't be an issue, and if, for some reason it were, then I wouldn't be able to use the adapter anyway since I sort of need the router. It's not connected through a surge protector or UPS or anything like that.

Could I possibly be missing something or is the wiring in my unit just poor?

bowen

Could just be your internet connection? I've been having some issues with the forum as of late, seems to sit and load on those ads/bars forever.

Dhalphir

Adus wrote: »

So yeah this isn't my topic but it's more specific to my issue. I recently acquired a powerline adapter since my wireless wasn't working too well. I noticed some warnings that circuits need to be on the same breaker while others said it didn't matter I decided to give them a shot anyway.

I live in a condo next to other units, so I honestly don't entirely know how our electrical system is laid out, but the adapters just do not seem to work well at all. I get a connection but it hitches every few moments. There will be (very) short periods of good speed but then it's back to taking forever. Even loading webpages seems to stress it. For example this very forum. It'll load the actual form after like 5 long seconds, and then take an extra 20 seconds to load the ad bar at the top.

This is the model I got: http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/support/powerline/PLSK400

It's connected through a router but that shouldn't be an issue, and if, for some reason it were, then I wouldn't be able to use the adapter anyway since I sort of need the router. It's not connected through a surge protector or UPS or anything like that.

Could I possibly be missing something or is the wiring in my unit just poor?

try doing a browser speedtest on your PC while it is directly connected, and doing the same thing while the powerline is in use

see if there is any difference

Pantshandshake

It could be a number of things.
Could be your wiring. Could be noise in your lines. Could be external to your house. Could be you have one or more powerline units failing. One of my first pair had connections issues like yours in the month before it quit altogether.

I would start with what Dhalphir suggested. If you end up with a better connection without the powerline unit, you're down to stuff inside your house, at least. I'm not an electrician, so I wouldn't know anything about seeing if you've got sub-par wiring or noise, unfortunately.