Homeplugs

macman

Your wi-fi network will (theoretically) support up to 54MBps, so that is far faster than your ADSL connection (unless you are on BT Infinity).
If using Homeplugs make sure you have a spare wall socket at each end-many of them do not like being plugged into trailing extension sockets, it tends to cripple the speed.

KillerWatt

rmg1 wrote: »

I did think about wi-fi (the router will support wireless) but I thought the speed would be slower?

Unless you have a 100Mbit connection and a router that is only G capable (54Mbps), Wi-Fi will be fine.
If your router is wireless N capable, then get an N capable card and you'll easily have the bandwidth for streaming videos and transferring large files.

FWIW our kids connect wirelessly at 150Mbps using WPA2 security and manage just over 5MB per second in real life use, so Wi-Fi isn't that slow if the job is done properly.

Bizzler

KillerWatt wrote: »

No.
The data is transmitted down the mains cable which is connected to your CU (fusebox), which in turn is connected to the incoming mains from the street, which is also connected to your neighbours house.

Not 100% correct.

Usually neighbouring houses are different phases which ruins the homeplug signal.

Then you have two meters to get through. They are high inductance which degrades the signal.

These factors combined rule out neighbours connecting.

DCFC79

I bought the ones from ebuyer and they came with a short ethernet cable so check the 1s you buy come with a cable, tehy also come with a cd which you dont need to use

ive not enabled security with my homeplugs, maybe i should look at doing that and maybe thats what the cd is for

alexlyne

I go the ebuyer ones too, as they were on offer when I bought them (a year ago they were £40 for 200mbps ones, bargain!). They are quite large, and I have mine in extension sockets with no problems (except you may not be able to use adjacent sockets)... I use it for my telly for iplayer and other internet stuff, no problems and more reliable than wireless

rmg1

I'm looking at ebuyer for a couple of HDDs (one internal and one external), so I'll have a look at the plugs at the same time.

rmg1

Right, I'm looking at these:>-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Comtrend-Powerline-ethernet-adapter-Filter/dp/B001M06Y0M/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1306911613&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Elements-Desktop-External/dp/B002E7HEVU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1306911563&sr=1-1

Can anyone tell me if I'm going in the right direction?

blammo

KillerWatt wrote: »

No.
The data is transmitted down the mains cable which is connected to your CU (fusebox), which in turn is connected to the incoming mains from the street, which is also connected to your neighbours house.

So if you don't enable some form of security on the homeplugs, any neighbour with a homeplug will be able to see & connect to your network.

Apparently not

http://www.avforums.com/forums/networking-nas/731564-homeplug-faq.html wrote:

Can my neighbour steal my internet connection if he has a HomePlug?
No, the electricity meter acts as block on the signals that are transmitted across the network, so there is no chance of them leaking out on to the public wiring and your neighbours picking them up.

Don’t forget to check the security options on any wireless devices in the house. If an outsider can access the wireless network, they also gain access to the homeplug-connected computers, and the homeplug security is useless.

http://www.im2web.co.uk/Homeplugs.htm wrote:

Q. How secure are HomePlugs?
A. Most premises are supplied with electricity at a different 'phase' to adjoining premises - HomePlug signals transmit along a single phase only - so it is unlikely that your neighbour can access your data. But if you are very concerned about security bear in mind that the HomePlug standard (and hence all HomePlugs) have built in 56Bit DES encryption technology. In short we don't think security should be an issue here!