Powerline adapters: Constantly losing signal

hare05

About a year ago I bought a pair of Belkin powerline adapters to connect the router (sitting room) to my desktop (upstairs bed room). It worked for a number of months with only an occasional loss of signal.

Over the last 2 weeks I've lost signal roughly every 5-10 minutes, and it doesn't come back until I unplug and re-insert the adapter in the socket. Sometimes not even then.

Since then I've run a cable from the downstairs hall to the bed room and used the powerline from there to avoid tearing up the sitting room carpet.

Signal is better, but still cuts out far too often.

I've ruled out everything else on the network as the issue.

At the moment I'm stumped. The adapters will show green light for signal when connected, but the light could be green, amber or simply off when the signal is lost.

I have added nothing new to the house at any of the power sockets, and everything else has worked fine with it for months.

Is there anything that can be done?

jor el

Balkin; there's the first mistake right there. Sounds like they're broken, so nothing you can do about it.

collier

They may have suffered a power spike that has damaged them.

watty

Run a Cat5e cable. Power line adaptors are too vulnerable to Interference. A phone charger, CFL (in regular bulb socket) or PC PSU can completely block the signal (even two houses away). If the regulator was doing their job they would be all illegal as the are actually really using illegal radio transmission and not the mains wiring to connect. They are self certified, or certified singly with out data, or other loopholes to get CE mark. Neither the Electricity Meter, RCD/ELCB or fuse box "isolates" them.

n0brain3r

watty wrote: »

Run a Cat5e cable. Power line adaptors are too vulnerable to Interference. A phone charger, CFL (in regular bulb socket) or PC PSU can completely block the signal (even two houses away). If the regulator was doing their job they would be all illegal as the are actually really using illegal radio transmission and not the mains wiring to connect. They are self certified, or certified singly with out data, or other loopholes to get CE mark. Neither the Electricity Meter, RCD/ELCB or fuse box "isolates" them.

Some pretty outlandish claims there mate care to back this one up

watty wrote: »

really using illegal radio transmission and not the mains wiring to connect.

I've had a number of these over the years and it does sound like yours took a power spike. You can setup encryption(At least on Netgear units) if you're worried about lack of isolation but in practice they're not powerful enough to go too far beyond you Meter box. I've seen no connectivity between sockets on opposite sides of a block wall as they where on separate RCB's but the same meter.

I use the Netgear XAVB5001 and I take a small hit on download speed from 25Mbs to 24 and nothing noticeable on the upload. If it's just for a bit of web surfing or an ATA they're fine.

aonoco

I am really hoping someone can help me as having a nightmare on powerlines

In short

Purchased triple pack of powerlines- brand 7 day shop

When i plug them into socket (note not using anything with surge protection or gang strip) all three lights light up

I plug one into router
Plug the others into the sockets in the house (note all sockets upstairs)

but do not get any data connection or signal

When i use the softeware with the powerlines it does not locate or find the powerlines

System set up is DSL Modem (i think) digiweb antenna, cable into belkin router, cable from router into PC, have tried the powerlines in channels 2/3 & 4 but does not make a difference

I have also tried the powerlines in a friends house which is 30 years old and same issue however the software on his pc does recognise one powerline (the powerline that is plugged into the router)

My router is set up as dynamic ip. my friend tried ipconfig/all and it does see the IP address of powerline when run this.

I am really at a loss, and hope it is something simple, any help would be greatly appreciated - i have spent about 10 hours trouble shooting this and nothing....have followed the manual that came with powerlines but just nothing is working...really appreciate any advice

Sponge Bob

aonoco wrote: »

brand 7 day shop

Probably made by Belkin. Stick to quality brands like Solwise.

aonoco

Constructive feedback always welcome

any other ideas anyone?

PogMoThoin

aonoco wrote: »

Constructive feedback always welcome

Belkin have a long tradition of making utter shíte networking products that hardly ever work and cause nothing but headaches.
See for yourself:
http://www.boards.ie/search/?q=belkin+problems

Sponge Bob

7 day shop is no better and neither is trust. They are cheap and nasty brands, end of.

aonoco

Guys, not really looking to debate the merits of belkin and the quality of their products, replacing router and power lines is not an option at present due to finances, seeking any alternative solutions or suggestions people may have to set up the power line, maybe some configuration i may have overlooked etc

jor el

It seems obvious that they just don't work. There is no configuration, or anything you need to do. You just plug them in and they work. If they don't work, then they're broken. The reason they don't work is most likely because they are cheap crap.

Send them back.

ferike1

My problem is less severe. My connection slows from 25mbps to about 2 using the powerline connectors (TP-Link ones). Which would you recommend for use with the cisco upc router?

Oh and if a wireless n would do better at the same price point (up to 150 euro) then I would prefer that.

PogMoThoin

I don't recommend homeplugs or wireless at all, it's always hit and miss. Better to run a cat5 cable, it always works and does gigabit. You'd be surprised how easy it is to conceal cat5 if you put a bit of thought into it. Tack it neatly on top of skirting board, or under a carpet at the edge, it's only 6mm, drill a hole through the masonry and bring it outside at skirting level, tack it underneath the plaster plinth and up behind a downpipes to the attic. I've yet to see a house I can't conceal a cable neatly on.

Half a million houses were built in this country in the last 10 years without any foresight, you will need a proper home network in future, why not do it now. Electricians are still cabling houses for an analogue phone system :eek:

ferike1

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/netgear-xavb5501-500mbps-via-gigabit-lan-powerline-avplus-500-adapter-kit-with-power-pass-through-tw

Was thinking of that.

The only reason I dont really want to drill is because I am renting and my landlord would probably be against it.

Otherwise I would of course have network cables.

jor el

Neither Homeplugs nor Wireless are really suitable for high speed (50-100Mbps) broadband. A proper gigabit Ethernet connection is what you need. Wireless and Homeplugs might work, but there is never any guarantee with them, and speeds will always be dependant on interference plus a whole host of other issues. Homeplugs generate interference too, which is worth noting.

PogMoThoin

ferike1 wrote: »

The only reason I dont really want to drill is because I am renting and my landlord would probably be against it.

Otherwise I would of course have network cables.

So am I, I insist on it or I move. The landlord was fine with it, as long as I was neat. It's a renters market, lots of empty houses, He had no choice.

ferike1

Cheers for the advice. For now the speed is below that so I will talk to the landlord and see what he says.

jor el

Do you really need to drill any holes? Just run a cable along the skirting. That works for me going from downstairs to upstairs.

ferike1

Well looking at it I probably could run it on the skirting but of course would need a lot of cable. Its an apartment and just because the universe loves me the upc entry point and the place the cable needs to go is divided by 3 doors and are the two furthest points apart in the apartment.

I am not trying to be difficult and I appreciate the advice. I am just weighing up my options here. On the off chance my landlord were to say no ( and moving is not an option). Which is the less worse option. A high quality powerline adapter or a high quality wireless access point.

jor el

ferike1 wrote: »

Which is the less worse option. A high quality powerline adapter or a high quality wireless access point.

I don't think anyone can really answer that. Both can suffer problems, and you won't know which would suffer, or what the problem will be, until you try it out. If the router and the computer are separated by 3 walls, then wireless is really going to struggle, no matter how good the router is.

Spacedog

ugh Belkin.

At the best of times powerline network gear is susceptible to power spikes and interference. but consider it a life lesson, any Belkin product is garbage. even they know it. a few years back they were caught astroturfing amazon user reviews of their own products. if they put as much effort into making proper products the good reviews would write themselves.

good powerline network device manufacturers: Cisco, Linksys, Netgear, Devolo. (their business depends heavily on networking products)

ok ones. Western Digital, TP link, Asus. (they have good reputation but mostly in other related areas of technology)

companies like belkin, sony, philips etc. manufacture everything under the sun. and don't have a vested interest in this specific product being successful.

ferike1

jor el wrote: »

I don't think anyone can really answer that. Both can suffer problems, and you won't know which would suffer, or what the problem will be, until you try it out. If the router and the computer are separated by 3 walls, then wireless is really going to struggle, no matter how good the router is.

Fair enough. Thanks for the advice. I do appreciate it.

TotallyEpic

My powerline adaptors (TP-Link) work fine, I seem to get the full 85Mb/s.

Sponge Bob

Here is what Belkin did to forge false positive user reviews of their substandard rubbish.

http://thedailybackground.com/2009/01/16/exclusive-belkins-development-rep-is-hiring-people-to-write-fake-positive-amazon-reviews/

jimmycrackcorm

aonoco wrote: »

I am really hoping someone can help me as having a nightmare on powerlines

In short

Purchased triple pack of powerlines- brand 7 day shop

When i plug them into socket (note not using anything with surge protection or gang strip) all three lights light up

I plug one into router
Plug the others into the sockets in the house (note all sockets upstairs)

but do not get any data connection or signal

When i use the softeware with the powerlines it does not locate or find the powerlines

System set up is DSL Modem (i think) digiweb antenna, cable into belkin router, cable from router into PC, have tried the powerlines in channels 2/3 & 4 but does not make a difference

I have also tried the powerlines in a friends house which is 30 years old and same issue however the software on his pc does recognise one powerline (the powerline that is plugged into the router)

My router is set up as dynamic ip. my friend tried ipconfig/all and it does see the IP address of powerline when run this.

I am really at a loss, and hope it is something simple, any help would be greatly appreciated - i have spent about 10 hours trouble shooting this and nothing....have followed the manual that came with powerlines but just nothing is working...really appreciate any advice

If these are the 7day shop own brand with three blue less then I also have the same model. I too have occasional issues where they don't connect or one of them shows all the lights but the other does. I end up unplugging both for a while and then try switching them on several times. Eventually they go back to normal.

This has only happened to me twice in the last few months though. I'd suggest just trying to get two working first.

Stone

Hi all,

My experience with powerline networking adapters is as follows:
I bought a pair of Netgear AV500 XABV5501 adapters - the ones with filtered power sockets.
First the AV500 version is truly fast - not close to 500mbps but I do get 190mbps out of them !
However ALWAYS update to the latest firmware before usage !

Secondly I found that the filtered sockets made all the difference ....
I initially plugged the adapter into one socket of my double wall sockets (all my wall power sockets are double ones) and plugged all other stuff into the paired one. This only gave me ~50-60mbps *ugh*
Then I moved everything to the filtered power socket of the network adapters and voila - 190mbps throughput ....

Lessons I learnt ?
If you out devices on the same physical power wires as the network adapter (double wall plugs use the same wires ...) they will interfere - hence a filtered power plug is essential !
Use a quality product from a reputable brand !
Update firmware !

Just my experience and 2 cents worth ....

//Stone

neacy69

Stone wrote: »

Hi all,

My experience with powerline networking adapters is as follows:
I bought a pair of Netgear AV500 XABV5501 adapters - the ones with filtered power sockets.
First the AV500 version is truly fast - not close to 500mbps but I do get 190mbps out of them !
However ALWAYS update to the latest firmware before usage !

Secondly I found that the filtered sockets made all the difference ....
I initially plugged the adapter into one socket of my double wall sockets (all my wall power sockets are double ones) and plugged all other stuff into the paired one. This only gave me ~50-60mbps *ugh*
Then I moved everything to the filtered power socket of the network adapters and voila - 190mbps throughput ....

Lessons I learnt ?
If you out devices on the same physical power wires as the network adapter (double wall plugs use the same wires ...) they will interfere - hence a filtered power plug is essential !
Use a quality product from a reputable brand !
Update firmware !

Just my experience and 2 cents worth ....

//Stone

Just got myself some powerline adapters and found your review....Could you explain what you mean by a filtered power socket?

Stone

neacy69 wrote: »

Just got myself some powerline adapters and found your review....Could you explain what you mean by a filtered power socket?

Well - if you look as most powerline adapters they 'just' plug into the wall socket and provide ethernet connection ....
If you look at the one I mention - the Netgear XABV5501 they also provide a power socket in the adapter so you can plug power cords into it ....
This port is filtered so electrical noice is eliminated and will not interfere with the networking signal ....
You can look up the product manual on Netgears site .....

m4rkiz

i could recommend devolo, they actually can achieve advertised speeds (unlike my tplinks) and since i plugged them in ~20 months ago i didn't have single issue (it is devolo 200 AVplus with filtered pass through sockets)

they are nowhere as cheap as tplink, belkin or other generic ones, but it really is plug and forget with them