Wired Network using Plug into the Mains

Lawbag_2

Anyone have any experiences or recommendations?

These are network devices that plug directly into the mains socket and provide networking without long trailing wires...

stuartk

Lawbag wrote: »

Anyone have any experiences or recommendations?

These are network devices that plug directly into the mains socket and provide networking without long trailing wires...

Hi There

These are called powerline or homeplug network adaptors and can be really good for people who cannot have reliable wifi access. can be a bit tricky to setup but once down they are really good and can be moved around the house / office too.

here are some here: http://ebuyer.com/search?store=8&cat=109&subcat=1745

Personally I'd go with the Linksys / Cisco ones

if you need help just ask

regards

TonyMMM

I went with the extra value 85Mbps Twin pack (currently £44.99), at the link from stuartk - excellent value and worked perfectly ...there is no setup you have to do at all. Have a look at the feedback.

I struggled with unreliable wireless connections for months - wish I had got these adaptors in the first place !

chunter

I agree, Homeplugs are the dogs tail, an excellent alternative to wireless if you've a big house or big walls.

Also good if you've sheds or garages away from the house.

System

I've used them and they are brilliant, just declutters everything i need connected. No wires throughout the house

DigitalJedi

Can't recommend them enough. The only downside I can think of is that they use power! Erm, thats it!

LindaMary

DigitalJedi wrote: »

Can't recommend them enough. The only downside I can think of is that they use power! Erm, thats it!

And also radiate for several hundred yards in all directions obliterating the Shortwave Bands on radio. Check you havent any Radio Hams living nearby or you may get a visit from the guys at Ofcom. There is a move to outlaw these devices. The only reason I know this is my uncle is a Radio Ham and eventually his neighbours had to stop using these things cos they were causing him loads of interferance

Knub

They are very good as suggested here. I work in a listed building and have used them to go around places where wirless would not work and we could not drill holes.

They are slightly more complex than a standard router to setup but if you have any networking experience or have the capability to "READ A MANUAL" then it should be straight forward.

To my knowledge they are reliable and the only problem I have had with ours is they stopped workign after a few years (old I guess) and that in our building we have 2-3 "power rings". This basically means that our top floor doesn't share the same power wiring as the downstairs office. Therefore putting one device up there and one down below means they can't talk to each other.

John_Gray

Knub wrote: »

They are slightly more complex than a standard router to setup but if you have any networking experience or have the capability to "READ A MANUAL" then it should be straight forward..

Really? I just plugged one in with an ethernet patch cable to my router, and one upstairs with an ethernet patch cable to my PC.

PC connected to router within just over 5 seconds. No further action required.

Knub

John_Gray wrote: »

Really? I just plugged one in with an ethernet patch cable to my router, and one upstairs with an ethernet patch cable to my PC.

PC connected to router within just over 5 seconds. No further action required.

Yes.

The ones I had were 2-3 years old so the chances are they have advanced a bit in terms of plug and play ability. You had to configure them to be using the same power frequency or some rubbish (due to being multiple sets within the same building) and I had to give it the details of my network settings. It has been a while I must confess...

I'm sure you have much newer ones than I did

John_Gray

The only problem I've ever had is with the PL-85PEW Wireless Access Point version, where its default subnet was different from that of my LAN. Took a bit of messing around with its wireless configuration...