Powerline Adapters

What's the experience of our forum members with use of adaptors which use the mains power lines of a house to extend the reach of a LAN. I read an article the other day giving high marks to Powerline Adaptors, specifically ones by Netgear (XE104). Sounds ideal for large houses or difficult configurations where wireless just won't reach. Comments?

I too have been looking into the 'HomePlug' idea. It seems - from what I have read - that it is fairly stable; however, there are limitations if the distance is to be over 1000' and there is the potential problem of spikes on the mains, plus the posibility of other problems if certain items are being used; such as vacuum cleaners etc. But overall, it seems the system is fairly sound.
One question I have which is not at all clear in the write-ups, is this: With this system, we go from phone line to router, then router to 'HomePlug' device (call this first device 'a'), but if, say, I wanted one device in each of the three bedrooms, would that first device 'a' have to be a four port unit? (as it appears there are one port and four port units). I assume that a 4port would be needed as the router would need to switch between the other three in the bedrooms. Am I correct?

I don't think so - the 4 ports are for the number of PC's etc to plug into it, not for the number of things remotely to which you want to connect.
So the first single port device plugs into the router via ethernet, and each of the PCs is connected to its own single port device via ethernet.

If you are in doubt, read the detailed specs for the products:
http://www.netgear.com/Products/BridgesAccessPointsandExtenders/PowerlineWallPluggedExtenders/XE104.aspx?detail=Specifications

Edited by dandnsmith (Sat 19-Aug-06 10:10:06)

i think this is what I saw on QVC this morning, It wasn't netgear tho.I was thinking of going wireless,but a bit confused by it all, the bit that worried worried me this morning was that the guy demo'ing powerline adapter said that wirless goesn't like going to anything upsatirs,I have a desktop in the spare bedroom/office and laptops which we use downstairs, has anyone found this a problem ?

My lad's running a PC, an iBook and a PDA upstairs, all via wireless, with the router downstairs next to the phone point.

But this is a new-build house, quite lightweight with chipboard flooring upstairs. It might not work quite so well in an older house with heavy floorboards.

You might find that being directly above the router is about the worst-case position, given that the rf coverage is sort of doughnut shaped.

Edited by Xris (Sat 19-Aug-06 17:59:00)

I guess it's a case of move it around to find the right position.My phone point is downstairs at the front of the house and my desktop is upstairs at the back of the house, I 'spose I can move the router around the house and plug it into one of my adsl extension points, would the wirelass signal radiate downwards if I had the router upstairs ?

I've heard of several users who have mounted it in the loft and seem to increase their coverage, though it's not immediately clear why this should be so.

I guess its a case of so long as it works ,go with it.Is wireless easy to undo ?I mean - at the moment I have a set up that works perfectly well - adsl extensions with usb modem in each room so i can choose where I work. I'ts just a bit untidy and easy for my youngest grandaughter to tug at.So if I run into problems setting up a wireless network, can I easily go back to my exisiting set up ?