Are Homeplugs worth the cost?

faded_flowers

Er, I think I'm more confused now

It isn't feasible to wire up three flights of stairs lifting carpets etc, and I can't leave the door open 24/7 so it's either the dongle or the plugs I think.

DonnyDave

faded_flowers wrote: »

It isn't feasible to wire up three flights of stairs lifting carpets etc, and I can't leave the door open 24/7 so it's either the dongle or the plugs I think.

So you live in a BIG house, or a windmill maybe? There is ground floor, first floor, second floor, third floor?

If so, can you position the wireless router either on the first or second floor so as to be, as near as you can, half way up?

DCFC79

tweeter wrote: »

Are Solwise homeplugs ok, as I just bought a pair and don't want to inconvenience anybody.

Tweeter, just the homeplugs, i wasnt aware they caused interference and ill continue to use them as they do a fine job,

kwikbreaks

Yanski wrote: »

Actually Top Band is 2.0 MHz and the wavelength is around 160 metres

Yes it is around 1.8 - 2.0MHz
ADSL2+ uses ~ 25KHz - 2.2MHz and the top end of that range will only actually be used on short lines. I sync at 12-13MHz and my highest frequency used is 1940KHz so longer lines than that won't touch top band frequencies at all.

Yanski wrote: »

Sorry but that is quite incorrect. Ask the submarines in the Mediterranean how they get radio while under water

Communications with submerged submarines uses ELF (3–3000Hz) or maybe VLF 3-30KHz not MF 300KHz-3MHz - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines

Yanski wrote: »

Interestingly, nobody seems to talk about field strength. Think of the worries people have about mobile masts and how the strength of the transmitted signal from these is harmful! The radiation from these Homeplugs is being transmitted from ALL the electrical wiring in the house, completely surrounding the occupants. When you bear in mind that these devices can (and do) transmit up to 500m from the source, it makes you wonder.

Mobile phone masts operate in the GHz range at powers often close to a Kilowatt. Mains networking operates at far lower frequencies and power levels measured in the milliwatt range. I don't even believe that mobile phone masts pose a health hazard so I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over radiation from HomePlug networks. If you want to worry about RF fields then junk your mobile phone (up to 5w right next to your brain) and WiFi which actually uses RF for coms rather than being wire based.

Yanski

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Yes it is around 1.8 - 2.0MHz
ADSL2+ uses ~ 25KHz - 2.2MHz and the top end of that range will only actually be used on short lines. I sync at 12-13MHz and my highest frequency used is 1940KHz so longer lines than that won't touch top band frequencies at all.

My point was that the interestingly named Top Band was not a short wavelength band

Communications with submerged submarines uses ELF (3–3000Hz) or maybe VLF 3-30KHz not MF 300KHz-3MHz

Good old wikipedia You said that as the cables were underground, they would not radiate. That is simply not true. They may not radiate very much but they will radiate. Local loop D-side cabling may be twisted pair but it is not balanced. In fact neither is the E-side.

Mobile phone masts operate in the GHz range at powers often close to a Kilowatt. Mains networking operates at far lower frequencies and power levels measured in the milliwatt range. I don't even believe that mobile phone masts pose a health hazard so I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over radiation from HomePlug networks. If you want to worry about RF fields then junk your mobile phone (up to 5w right next to your brain) and WiFi which actually uses RF for coms rather than being wire based.

Not all masts radiate anywhere near that level as well you know My point was not to be precise about effective radiation from those masts but to point out that people do worry about it, a concern I do not share. However, being in an effectively reverse Faraday Cage is an interesting concept :rotfl:

I totally agree about the wifi btw!

PROLIANT

computershack wrote: »

Plus if you have any amateur radio operators within 300 yards of you, be prepared for a visit from Ofcom and to be told to stop using them because you're breaking the law. So far, I've had Ofcom out to two people in the streets adjacent to mine who have been served with stop notices.

Here's an example of what the poor sod would be listening to over the frequencies he can use.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S__UBDaL-aE

I am an active supporter of the cause to have PLT devices banned and will report anyone using them that causes me interference, as soon as my antenna went up outside I was to blame for everything that went wrong with the neighbours TV, Cable, telephone etc, even though I am a qualified and licensed operator and electronics technician who has spent time and money ensuring that I do not interfere with other radio equipment.

These PLT devices have destroyed the radio spectrum and I can’t believe our government is allowing this to happen, a group of us are designing home made devices to counter-interfere with these PLT devices until the government ban them - OfCom are useless, the sooner they disappear the better.

We have a large percentage of the radio spectrum allocated to Radio Amateurs, why should we have our hobby destroyed just so people can have their broad band piped across an unshielded mains network?

kwikbreaks

> a group of us are designing home made devices to counter-interfere with these PLT devices

wave goodbye to that amateur licence if you get caught.

savemoney

People have bought these homeplugs in good faith they are sold as easy to use. If they do leak or wiring does the fault surely lies with the manufacturer and or the relevant bodies who licensed them

Most of us dont want to cause problems for others but not all of us if it was proved cause a nuisance, have the money to buy again suitable equipment that doesn't

I dont have these btw but I may get some due to wireless blackspot I have

PROLIANT

kwikbreaks wrote: »

> a group of us are designing home made devices to counter-interfere with these PLT devices

wave goodbye to that amateur licence if you get caught.

Noted.....

Inactive

computershack wrote: »

Are you sure? THere's several down my street. A giveaway is a white or silver vertical antenna approximately 2 metres long usually attached to the TV antenna pole.

I am 100% sure, I live down a country lane with few neighbours, I know them all very well, most of them couldn't turn on a normal radio without assistance.;)