Many years back, my late brother obtained some form of early baby monitor, which plugged in to the mains within the house.

The battery-operated receiver would pick up the RF signal by a simple aerial, close to a mains socket within the house, something along the lines of the Home Plugs, although not exactly the same.

Experimentally, I took it out to the street; and could pick up the signal clearly at several of the lamp posts.

Some background reading-

https://askleo.com/keeping-the-neighbors-out/?awt_l=...

Those original ones were well known for the range and lack of security. There were stories a the time of people listening in and hearing the "nocturnal activities" of neighbours several houses away.

As were the early Cordless Phones, especially if listening with a SW Receiver!

In reply to a post by keith969:

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

i am still surprised that home plugs can go from one house to the next.

I'm not, if they are on the same supply circuit. What I am surprised is how weak the security is when using them out of the box.

If the fuseboxes have wire fuses, transmission between adjacent circuits and premises is very probable. Some electronic circuit breakers can stop transmission between circuits. In one site I have tested with electronic circuit breakers, homeplugs cannot transmit from one room to the next - because they are on different circuits.

If the fuses are a Wylex wire type they can be replaced easily with electronic ones that simply push in.

Edited by caffn8me (Sat 09-Jan-16 18:54:44)