Powerline adapter stopped working

J_B

My friends have a Cisco Linksys PLW400 in the house that worked fine till yesterday lunchtime!
In the office they have an ON Networks 'sender' (can't find the model number, sorry)

Anyway, yesterday morning they used Facetime to speak to their daughter but since then it won't work.

I took the Cisco across to the office, pressed the reset on both devices and it worked fine in the office. Unplugged it and took it over to the house but it won't connect.
On my phone it just says 'looking for IP address' (I think) but nothing happens.

Any suggestions?

esuhl

I haven't used poweline adaptors, but I've used similar network devices (repeaters, APs, bridges, etc.).

The difficulty I've had in connecting them to the network always seems to be related to DHCP-assigned IP addresses, and often the default settings are on a different subnet to the local network.

Reset the adapters, and connect them to a device that is NOT connected to any other network. You should be able to access the configuration settings for the adapter (refer to the manual).

The most important thing is to get both the powerline adaptor and the router on the same subnet. Sidestepping the technical explanation, this almost certainly means that you need to make sure the first three numbers in the IP address are the same. These are usually either 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x.

With networking devices, I usually set them with a static IP address (rather than using DHCP to assign one), and then manually bind the devices MAC address with the IP address on the router.

Hope that helps.

AndyPix

So your phone stays on "aquiring IP address" ..
What do other devices do if you try to connect (to rule out the phone being the issue)


Advice from Linksys here :-
http://is6.nohold.net/Linksys/GetArticle.aspx?docid=4869d2d930504dd79105c519faa7a88f_KB_EN_v1.xml&pid=80&converted=0

J_B

AndyPix wrote: »

So your phone stays on "aquiring IP address" ..

Actually, just checked, it was "obtaining IP address" but then nothing!

AndyPix wrote: »

What do other devices do if you try to connect (to rule out the phone being the issue)

Didn't check - there are only iDevices there (horrible things! )

Will maybe take my laptop tomorrow

But, why does it work fine in the office, but then when moved to the house, it doesn't?

The link you gave doesn't work.

System

Any new electrical devices? How is the office wired to the house (mains wiring)?

grumpycrab

AndyPix wrote: »

Advice from Linksys here :-
http://is6.nohold.net/Linksys/GetArticle.aspx?docid=4869d2d930504dd79105c519faa7a88f_KB_EN_v1.xml&pid=80&converted=0

MSE-added-space-removed-from-link...
http://is6.nohold.net/Linksys/GetArticle.aspx?docid=4869d2d930504dd79105c519faa7a88f_KB_EN_v1.xml&pid=80&converted=0

esuhl

J_B wrote: »

But, why does it work fine in the office, but then when moved to the house, it doesn't?

Different subnet? IP collision? Conflicting DHCP server?

esuhl

esuhl wrote: »

Reset the adapters, and connect them to a device that is NOT connected to any other network.

^^ I also meant to say that you should connect using an Ethernet cable, rather than wirelessly.

J_B

Tarambor wrote: »

Any new electrical devices? How is the office wired to the house (mains wiring)?

There is one meter for the property - the office is in a detached building.

psychic_teabag

According to the PLW400 manual troubleshooting section, there's a bunch of LEDs that show you the status of the network. Do they reveal anything interesting ?

My understanding was that powerline adapters work at the ethernet (mac-address) level, rather than IP, so it shouldn't be anything to do with IP addresses, etc. Though I see the manual does say that IP should already be working before installation. Though the device might also have an IP presence for config, monitoring, etc.

Manual says the adapter has an ethernet socket. Do you have a device you can plug in there to test the powerline connectivity (without relying on the wifi element) ?

System

J_B wrote: »

There is one meter for the property - the office is in a detached building.

Not really what I was looking for. Plug a Powerline Adapter into an extension lead and you'll see anything from a 50% drop in speed to a no-connection. So how the office is hooked up to the main house wiring is reasonable important. I've seen all kinds of lash up jobs involving outdoor sockets on the back of the house and long mains cable runs to the "shed converted to an office".