Web Powerline problems

sticker

Hi All,

This is a tricky post (you're forewarned!)

I bought these in Dixons blanch...

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/networking/power-line-networking/on-networks-pl200-199uks-200-mbps-powerline-adapter-kit-18781472-pdt.html

I have my UPC modem in a converted attic of a regular 3 bed semi. I wanted to have one plug here in the attic (at modem source) and the other to the ground floor plug beside the TV so I can active the smart functions of the TV.

I cannot get them to par together. They par in the same room, but not from attic to ground floor.

I contacted the manufacturer in the states and they tell me that the device does not work if it is on a 'separate power board' - but I would assume the attic builders just rigged in the new plugs to the existing system?!

Anyone know a way to determine this or have any simular issues. I tring with little success to get my internet to the ground floor.

The TV does not have wifi...

Thanks in advance!

fred funk }{

Some things will interfer with the link. Try unplug everything in the room where you're trying to connect to and if it works plug one thing back in at a time and you'll see which device is causing the problem.

sticker

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Some things will interfer with the link. Try unplug everything in the room where you're trying to connect to and if it works plug one thing back in at a time and you'll see which device is causing the problem.

I've about 15 items plugged into the sitting room!

The real bummer of this is that its three floors from one to the other.

I was hoping this would be a painless exercise...

Do you know of any other affordable solution to bringing a web line into another room without laying cable?!

invaderzimirl

most likely when your attic was converted there was a seperate Spur taken from your mains going to your attic and your neutral is not directly linked to the neutral for the rest of your house, when it was done how many new device was placed in your trip switch board (fuse board) if there is a device splitting the neutral circuit that is most likely your issue.


hope this helps

Powerline is one of those things where you won't know how well it works until you try them in your own home.

They are affected by wiring layout, distance, other appliances, breaker type etc. While they work reasonably well in most homes, for some people they won't work full stop.

You may have more luck with newer 500Mbps or AV2 600Mbps homeplugs but as usual I always recommend not to buy any homeplugs without a return guarantee.

If you have no luck with homeplugs, you can use a wifi bridge to provide a network connection for your smart tv.

fred funk }{

sticker wrote: »

I've about 15 items plugged into the sitting room!

The real bummer of this is that its three floors from one to the other.

I was hoping this would be a painless exercise...

Do you know of any other affordable solution to bringing a web line into another room without laying cable?!

Give it a try and see, wont take too long to unplug 15 plugs

If all else fails, you should get a sparks out to price up putting in a network point. There could well be an easy route from bottom to top floor that you mightn't see but a sparks would.

sticker

invaderzimirl wrote: »

most likely when your attic was converted there was a seperate Spur taken from your mains going to your attic and your neutral is not directly linked to the neutral for the rest of your house, when it was done how many new device was placed in your trip switch board (fuse board) if there is a device splitting the neutral circuit that is most likely your issue.


hope this helps

Ok thanks for the post - Looks like this option won't work for me.

It's a UPC line. I wonder if I couldn't ask them for another hard line in the room in question...

sticker

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Give it a try and see, wont take too long to unplug 15 plugs

If all else fails, you should get a sparks out to price up putting in a network point. There could well be an easy route from bottom to top floor that you mightn't see but a sparks would.

Agreed! - I'm doing some work for a sparks guy at the moment, might run it by him this week.

Thanks again -

Bog Standard User

1. powerline adapters MUST be plugged directly into the wall socket and never gang leads
2. both powerline adapters must be on the same power ring. (to verify if both are on the same ring go to the fusebox and look at the narrow trip switches)... if the same trip switch knocks the power off on both powerline adapters then they are on the same ring. if one is knocked off and one remains on they are on different rings.

sticker

Bog Standard User wrote: »

1. powerline adapters MUST be plugged directly into the wall socket and never gang leads
2. both powerline adapters must be on the same power ring. (to verify if both are on the same ring go to the fusebox and look at the narrow trip switches)... if the same trip switch knocks the power off on both powerline adapters then they are on the same ring. if one is knocked off and one remains on they are on different rings.

Thanks - I suspect they are on seperate rings...

vibe666

Bog Standard User wrote: »

1. powerline adapters MUST be plugged directly into the wall socket and never gang leads
2. both powerline adapters must be on the same power ring. (to verify if both are on the same ring go to the fusebox and look at the narrow trip switches)... if the same trip switch knocks the power off on both powerline adapters then they are on the same ring. if one is knocked off and one remains on they are on different rings.

sorry, but both of those statements are false.

they *should* be directly connected to the wall socket, but running them via an extension lead will not stop them from working if you have no other option, it will just (most likely) slow them down.

they don't need to be on the same ring either, again it will normally just slow them down.

i've done both in 4 different houses and all of them worked with one end on an extension lead and all of them on different rings, one of which was in an attic conversion in a pretty big house.

it's possible it's just very very poor wiring in the house. have you tried it from downstairs to upstairs and then upstairs to the attic to see if you can even get a connection between adjoining floors of the house?

by far your best bet would be to get an electrician in to run a length of ethernet cable from your attic down the cavity wall from/to where you need it. I got that done a few years ago when a guy was in fixing some other stuff in the house and it took him about 15 minutes to do and he only charged me an extra 20 quid to run the cable, inc. putting ethernet faceplates on the walls up and downstairs.

Bog Standard User

vibe666 wrote: »

sorry, but both of those statements are false.

they *should* be directly connected to the wall socket, but running them via an extension lead will not stop them from working if you have no other option, it will just (most likely) slow them down.

they don't need to be on the same ring either, again it will normally just slow them down.

i've done both in 4 different houses and all of them worked with one end on an extension lead and all of them on different rings, one of which was in an attic conversion in a pretty big house.

it's possible it's just very very poor wiring in the house. have you tried it from downstairs to upstairs and then upstairs to the attic to see if you can even get a connection between adjoining floors of the house?

by far your best bet would be to get an electrician in to run a length of ethernet cable from your attic down the cavity wall from/to where you need it. I got that done a few years ago when a guy was in fixing some other stuff in the house and it took him about 15 minutes to do and he only charged me an extra 20 quid to run the cable, inc. putting ethernet faceplates on the walls up and downstairs.

plugs on different rings tend to get very very poor speeds and basically render them pointless for anything other than basic web browsing.

plugs on gang leads can work but the error rate tends to be very high especially when the gang lead is of cheaper build quality. pass through home plugs have a filter that can clean up noisy gang leads but the powerline adapter should go into the wall socket then plug the gang lead into the passthrough socket on the powerline adapter

also plugs on the older radial type fuseboxes dont work great either.

but as mentioned above the ethernet cable route is probably the best route... just make sure you use at least sheiled cat5e or if you can afford it cat 6 cabling for gigabit lan speeds.

vibe666

Bog Standard User wrote: »

but as mentioned above the ethernet cable route is probably the best route... just make sure you use at least sheiled cat5e or if you can afford it cat 6 cabling for gigabit lan speeds.

deary me.

bog standard unshielded cat5e is perfectly capable of gigabit speeds in the lengths that would be required for home use. there is no need to be paying out anything extra for shielded or cat6 cables.

if you find them at a similar price then go for cat6, but don't go thinking you need to spend extra cash just to get the better cables.

Bog Standard User

vibe666 wrote: »

deary me.

bog standard unshielded cat5e is perfectly capable of gigabit speeds in the lengths that would be required for home use. there is no need to be paying out anything extra for shielded or cat6 cables.

if you find them at a similar price then go for cat6, but don't go thinking you need to spend extra cash just to get the better cables.

unshielded tends to pick up electrical noise from power cables in the wall though so you never get close the gigabit speeds. with sheilded cable you will get much less noise. for the sake of a few extra quid it is worth it

sticker

Anyone have an idea of a general cost to have a sparks add cabeling to a standard 3 bed semi from converted attic to ground floor?

tagoona

Would you really need a sparks?
I took the cable from the router in the upstairs bedroom, across the attic floor, down through the hot press and down into the sitting room below. A bit of conduit and it looks the business.

Cerco

Should be straightforward. You will have a cable route already bringing the power cables from the consumer unit, presumably on the ground floor, to your attic sockets. Can you get the electrician who wired your attic to quote you?,

vibe666

Bog Standard User wrote: »

unshielded tends to pick up electrical noise from power cables in the wall though so you never get close the gigabit speeds. with sheilded cable you will get much less noise. for the sake of a few extra quid it is worth it

sorry, but (again) that is complete rubbish.

normal home electrical cables will have ZERO effect on ethernet cabling. shielded cables are designed for use in places where there is a lot of electromagnetic interference such as next to plant machinery or high voltage electrical cabling.

in a home environment you will get the exact same gigabit performance from unshielded cat5e cable as you would with shielded cat5e or cat6. ensuring the cables are properly terminated is of much more importance when it comes to reliable speed.

tagoona wrote: »

Would you really need a sparks?
I took the cable from the router in the upstairs bedroom, across the attic floor, down through the hot press and down into the sitting room below. A bit of conduit and it looks the business.

it's going to depend on the individual house (what kinds of obstacles are in the way in the walls etc.) and how you feel about crawling around in the crawl spaces either side of the attic conversion and making holes in the walls.

i've done it myself (it was easier to run it outside under the guttering, so i did that), but these days i'd rather just pay someone to do it and save my knees.

think of it this way, it will most likely cost more or less about the same as a decent set of 500mbps homeplugs, but will give you better speeds.

Cuddlesworth

Bog Standard User wrote: »

unshielded tends to pick up electrical noise from power cables in the wall though so you never get close the gigabit speeds. with sheilded cable you will get much less noise. for the sake of a few extra quid it is worth it

I'm sure he will truly miss the 2-4mb from interference on a 10 meter run.

sticker

vibe666 wrote: »

it's going to depend on the individual house (what kinds of obstacles are in the way in the walls etc.) and how you feel about crawling around in the crawl spaces either side of the attic conversion and making holes in the walls.

i've done it myself (it was easier to run it outside under the guttering, so i did that), but these days i'd rather just pay someone to do it and save my knees.

think of it this way, it will most likely cost more or less about the same as a decent set of 500mbps homeplugs, but will give you better speeds.

I agree, I'm not that comfortable in drilling holes and hoping for the best - |I'd prefer to spend a few bob (if reasonable enough!) and get the job done right.

I'm in Clonee in a relatively new house if anyone's interested in giving me a quick quote!!

Thanks again everyone for the help and advice...

vibe666

the guy I got in to do it for me is a friend of my brother in law, but he's not very reliable when it comes to getting him around to do little jobs as he's usually busy on the big corporate ones.

that said, all he did was cut a small square hole in the wall in the two spots where the cable needed to go from/to, dropped the cable down the wall cavity to one hole, ran it across the attic and dropped it down to the other one and then terminated both ends at two ethernet wall sockets.

nice and tidy and doesn't leave any cables laying anywhere.

Having done it myself as well though previously, I'm much happier paying someone else to do it because it's a pain in the hole! :pac:

sticker

vibe666 wrote: »

the guy I got in to do it for me is a friend of my brother in law, but he's not very reliable when it comes to getting him around to do little jobs as he's usually busy on the big corporate ones.

that said, all he did was cut a small square hole in the wall in the two spots where the cable needed to go from/to, dropped the cable down the wall cavity to one hole, ran it across the attic and dropped it down to the other one and then terminated both ends at two ethernet wall sockets.

nice and tidy and doesn't leave any cables laying anywhere.

Having done it myself as well though previously, I'm much happier paying someone else to do it because it's a pain in the hole! :pac:

Thanks! - A contact may have surfaced that I'm working with at the moment. As I said before, best to have a pro do the job than me hack away at the gaf!