SmallNetBuilder's Powerline FAQ

[Shinma]

Our Essential Wireless FAQ gets a lot of regular use. So we figured why not try the same thing for powerline networking?

...
1. Are all powerline adapters the same?

No. Powerline networking suffered through a contentious standards battle that dragged on way too long and hurt powerline's adoption as a mainstream consumer networking technology. Things are much better today because there is finally an IEEE standard (IEEE P1901) and past battles are over...

For article,
Click HERE

May be of interest for those encountering situations where distance is a factor within a home.


For Powerline Charts,
Click HERE

[SpywareDr]

Interesting. Thanks Shinma.

[Shinma]

You're welcome.

Decided to post it due to number of people inquiring about networking computers between several floors and such.

[Huge]

I've actually been considering this lately. My bedroom is three floors above the router and getting a wi-fi signal up that far is hard, even with repeaters. Now I wonder what I will do with the 100' ethernet cable I've got going out my bedroom window down the building!

[Shinma]

... My bedroom is three floors above the router and getting a wi-fi signal up that far is hard, even with repeaters...

That is the scenario with a client that I have to deal with in the next few weeks.
He does get a signal but poorly/sporadic in the basement
and
his modem is located on the second floor.

Temporary setup will be,
2nd floor: Cable > Wireless Gateway device > Powerline AV adapter & Laptop
1st floor: Powerline AV adapter > Wireless router (configured as Access Point/switch) > Laptops & Network Printer
Basement: Desktops

If the powerline AV adapter works well on the 1st floor, I'll add powerline adapter in the basement.

Wanted to run CAT6 network cables throughout
but
His wife would have both are heads on a chopping block for punching holes through the walls, floors...

[equinoxe3d]

I'm seriously thinking going with powerline networking if I buy a house with a finished basement. The outside-the-walls CAT5 wiring job I did at my house right now is not really aesthetic :P
Glad to see the AV500 adapters are going down in price.

[Huge]

Let us know how it goes Shinma. I'm not in any hurry to take down that cable, but I would like to know how good/bad it is (and $$$). I just remember powerline networking being so bad a decade ago.

[Shinma]

They are supposedly improved since they settled a standard.

I'll be trying out a HomePlug AV specification, TRENDnet TPL-307E2K powerline adapter.
Due to some feedbacks of heat with the really compact models of powerline adapters,
I decided to try out a bulkier model.

Decided to skip the HomePlug AV 500 specification adapters
since the technology appears to be working out some bugs on some brands/models.