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An elderly friend and his wife live in a small 2-bedroom flat. They have their own PCs in the second bedroom, separate from the lounge containing the wireless router. They do not want Ethernet cables around the rooms so both PCs have (the same) wireless USB dongles.
One PC runs Win 7, no problems. The other PC auto-upgraded to Win 10 several months ago. From time to time that Win 10 PC drops the dongle and I have to go over there (15 miles) to sort it out, I'll be there again this evening.
To the best of their and my recollection there were no problems when that PC was on Win 7 so that suggests a driver problem, or possibly the dongle is failing.
They wondered about going back to Win 7 but that would be a lot of work - for me, and I don't have the time for several weeks - or a new dongle, one that is certified (?) for Win 10. (They also wondered about replacing the router but I pointed out that it's working fine for the Win 7 PC).
So this generates a number of options and questions, connection speed is not really important, their internet is only around 3-4 Mbps.
Is there a good, reliable, certified for Win 10, USB WiFi dongle?
Is there a way of having something analogous to a WAP in the computer room to convert the wireless signal to an Ethernet connection?
Would Powerline adapters be a solution? Any recommendations for effective, and not overly expensive, adaptors?
Any other - practical - solutions?
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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If they don't want thernet cables, the sure way seems to be powerline adaptors - but no guarantees offered as to usability.
Since the dongles are identical, why not try swapping them?
Are the PCs also identical (for hardware)?
Derek
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If they don't want thernet cables, the sure way seems to be powerline adaptors - but no guarantees offered as to usability. Fair enough.
Since the dongles are identical, why not try swapping them? Good idea, I'll see their reaction this evening. Trouble is it can go for weeks before it drops out.
Are the PCs also identical (for hardware)? Very similar in RAM, HDD size, processor, but as they're some months apart in age they'll have some difference, e.g. motherboard.
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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I had a similar problem with a TP-link adapter on my parents' PC that upgraded itself to Windows 10.
Not the solution you were looking for but the issue went away after a fresh install of windows 10
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I'd wondered about that, but I really don't have the time to go through that.
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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Aah the joys of computers !
This problem should be easy to fix by first swapping the dongles and rebooting, they could easily do this without a visit from you.
Then following further failures either get a new dongle with Win10 drivers or if the dongle is ok grab Win 10 drivers from TP Link and update the driver.
You could also try using a different USB port then reboot. I presume you have checked they have good wifi signal strength in the PC Room.
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There's a pair of TP Link 500's going for £25 at Amazon.
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Remote desktop would allow you to update drivers without a 30 mile round trip.
Then again, if the wifi is out...
Just a thought.
John
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There's a pair of TP Link 500's going for £25 at Amazon. would be better to get the ones with 2 outlets (about £3 more), so both machines could be plugged in
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As I enjoy their conversation (and coffee) my email to them inviting myself over just about crossed with one from them saying they had a problem. So the journey is no hardship.
I remembered this morning that I had a couple of old Comtrend Powerline adapters that I'd been given and had tried at our church to resolve an issue, are not being used as the issue has been sorted differently. So I brought them back today and have just tried them on my home desktop - which is normally wired.
They worked perfectly. So I'll take them and some network cables this evening and see what's what. They have a power pass through socket so there's no need for spare sockets. Just have to persuade the couple not to switch them off.
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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Replying to myself to ask a supplementary question.
Can the Powerline adapter feed a hub to enable >1 PC or the like to connect wired to the network?
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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I needed to connect a smart TV which didn't have built in WiFi and running Ethernet across 2 rooms was more than I could face. I bought a Trendnet AC1200 Wireless Media Bridge (from BT, for what it's worth). This takes a WiFi input and outputs up to 4 ethernet cables and I found it worked perfectly even with a badly placed router and 2 intervening concrete block walls. Only problem was set-up - WPS didn't work so I had to plug it in to the router to set up, then all ok.
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I remembered this morning that I had a couple of old Comtrend Powerline adapters that I'd been given...
...So I'll take them and some network cables this evening and see what's what. They have a power pass through socket so there's no need for spare sockets. Just have to persuade the couple not to switch them off. Took them, installed them, worked first time straight away.
So if they continue to work in a week or three, I'll see about getting and installing some more permanent arrangement. Such an arrangement will need to be able to connect by Ethernet both PCs to the router. Clearly the potential for the currently Win 7 PC to fail wirelessly as and when it's upgraded to Win 10, has to be borne in mind.
So any recommendations for PL devices? Preferably ones with pass-through power, and the ability to network two PCs.
There appears to be reports of some TP Link PL devices dropping out, not sure how widely that occurs. Certainly don't want a situation where the PLAs need to be power-cycled or reset from time to time.
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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An update.
Was over there last night - they make excellent coffee!
The Powerline Adapter has worked flawlessly for a few weeks now so looking to implement them for both PCs.
Their desire is to use separate ones for each PC, so a single Ethernet post per adapter is fine, they can spare the necessary power sockets so pass trough power is not needed - and makes the adapters bulkier Speed is irrelevant, their BB is only around 3-4 Mbps.So need a total of 3 PLAs, 1 for router, 1 for each of 2 desktop PCs.
This TP-Link AV500 (TL-PA4010KIT) looks to be good value and suitable. Given we'll need 3 of the units it would be simplest to buy 2 sets, which gives a degree of resilience, just in case.
I assume that you can have 3 of these talking amongst themselves?
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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I assume that you can have 3 of these talking amongst themselves? Yes you can
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Would be worth checking that the Win 10 USB powersave hasn't defaulted to 'On' for the WiFi dongle...
Best done through the 'traditional' device manager rather than the hobbled Win 10 settings menu's
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It hasn't. As soon as I go and reset the dongle software it works perfectly, then it randomly days or weeks later drops out. I've checked all the settings, time-outs, etc. I'm not wasting my time trying to keep wireless working when when there is already a working wired solution.
I've said that it is not staying wireless, they're desktop PCs and wired is the way to go and it's been working perfectly for several weeks via the PLAs.
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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Another PLA question.
For the current setup the one that is connected to the router is plugged into an extension board, the PC-connected one is direct into a wall socket.
However I read that PLAs must/should (not sure which) be connected direct to a wall socket. Why?
Is it a speed issue, or reliability, or what?
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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Generally both, extension cables can be of variable quality, cable cross sectional area and don't always have great connections - additionally, they can be coiled up or snaked across other cables which can cause degredation of the data signal - generally, mains house wiring doesn't have so much 'variability' as extension cables, i'd also avoid using on the output side of filtered sockets or extensions as these are designed to remove 'noise' (data over mains would be seen as noise) from the mains supply. Finally, some home-made extension cables i've seen are only two core, which wouldn't help either for data or electrical safety!
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You said earlier in the thread they didn't need ones with power pass through because there were plenty of sockets. If they are being plugged into an extension lead then there aren't enough wall sockets so this is where you can use a pass through adapter and plug the extension into that.
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Indeed I did, but a wall socket can be made available if needed. One is plugged into an extension board at the moment, purely for temporary convenience.
I have to say though in my own mind that having ones with pass through power is more convenient. The downside is that they seem to be relatively expensive, and considerably larger.
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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When I used them I did use the pass through ones because the inconveniences you mention for m were overridden by the ability to plug an extension into it and not use a main socket just for the powerline - most houses don't have enough sockets to be able to do that. But, if it is only temporary and you can free up a socket to use then I agree it isn't worth the expense to buy the pass through plugs.
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Do not use the extension socket unless you want issues in future. I would have personally just changed their wireless card as it seemed to be faulty (assuming other wireless devices had no issues). I know a few which have been running for 100+ days without a dropout on my media server.
Edited by ukhardy07 (Mon 04-Apr-16 11:33:35)
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... However I read that PLAs must/should (not sure which) be connected direct to a wall socket...
I have run several of these in various locations via standard but fairly short extension leads without any issues whatsoever. Surge protected and other fancy extensions are a different matter though.
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To update this.
In the end I bought for them 2 pairs of BT Powerline 600 units with pass-through power. I set them up at home to check them and get them all talking to each other. I also checked they would work across different power rings protected by MCBs (I think that's what they are in our house)
Then last night took them over to install them. Given that the temporary 2 PLA units had been working without a hitch for a month or two I was reasonably comfortable with it all.
I plugged the two units by their PCs into wall sockets and their extensions into the pass-through power sockets. When I came to plug the one in by the router I hit a problem. They have wall mounted shelves floor to ceiling and end to end in their lounge. One is just above the socket line so it was not possible to plug the PLA into the wall socket, and no other PLA accessible wall socket was anywhere near the router. So I used a non-protected extension board and plugged the PLA into that.
Connected the PCs and routers and switched it all on. Everything worked straight away, no problems. As they have power-saving I did wonder whether they would successfully "wake up" this morning, but emails this morning have assured me all is well.
While I'm well aware that PLAs can cause problems in some situations - RFI - they do seem to be a reasonable solution where cable runs are unacceptable or not realistic.
Tony
Happily running Windows 10 on both desktop and laptop
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
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