I've been using a pair of powerline ethernet adapters in our house for the knoppmyth box for some months now. One of the adapters sits on a separate circuit all the way out to the far-end of the garage, through an extension cord/surge protector.

In terms of bandwidth, they are spec'd as fast as wireless, but I get better transfer speed. I don't know precisely why that is, but it's easy to speculate.

Is anyone else had good/bad luck with them?

hmm, maybe this is the trick to reach my barn....what brand/models are you using?

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There's more returned powerline ethernet adapters at Fry's than you can count. One of the problems is that houses are wired for 110V by taking a 220V split-phase input and dividing it into two "legs" which serve the house. The trouble comes when you put one powerline interface on one leg and another on the opposite leg. They don't communicate very well in that configuration.

If you've ever used X10 devices, they have the same problem. In the X10 world, they have devised clever boxes which sit on a 220V line (like a dryer or oven) and conduct the high-frequency X10 signals from one leg to the other. I don't know if this would solve powerline ethernet communications problems, as the signaling frequencies might be different.

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so will I have twice the fun in my house that has 400amp service?

Guess I need to 'trial and error' on the house side to see what is on the same leg as my barn.

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The amps don't matter -- it's likely still a 220V split phase line. Or it could be a 280V three-phase line, but I doubt it. But who knows? Just don't use your tongue to sense if the power is on. That only works for 9V batteries...

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I love that 9V trick.

So I have a 50-50 chance of being on the same branch!

As I can barely get wireless throughout my house (horsehair plaster over metal wire mesh lathe) the barn has no chance.

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I purchase a pair of "85mbps" powerline adapters. In operation they sustained an actual throughput rate of 7mbps of payload / data.

Marc

thanks for the datapoint....intresting to see less then 10% theory max.

I'm sure there are many variables in play...including 'how many air conditioners are running'

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That's exactly what I've got. The house on one leg, the garage on the other. Works great. I have the device plugged directly into the wall on both ends. The other sockets have powerstrips on them loaded with devices.

There must be some other variable coming into play.

Wow, home power is complicated in the USA.

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Mephi
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I took a few minutes to test the bandwidth on a really large file and it turns out it's a paltry 264kBytes. It's still way better than nothing, but I won't be buying newer ones that are supposed to go faster.

I have the dlink powerline hd (hd-301?). I'm very happy with them. They seem to do the job to stream mythtv around the house (SD). They are dead easy to because they are a bridge.. They are not without there problems..

They are suppose to do 200MPS, but i'm happy if i get around 8-10. The other issue with the dlink product is that they are known to overheat and burnup. i've already experienced this once. i bought mine in canada at futureshop, and a paid extra for the over the counter exchange, in case they burnup again..

Also, i understand the ham radio community doesn't like these devices at alll.. They impeed into there freq range.


This might sound bad, but really, I you want to stream mythtv around your house, and you don't want to deal with wireless, I suggest them..

pro

I was just looking at these as an option to extend my network to my garage...but...looking at the price, it might be simpler to just feed a network cable through the underground pipe with the power.

Though, I'm not sure about the interference, or how well a network cable will handle -35c weather in the winter...

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Except that would be a code violation

The CAT5 (or whatever you used) would have to have an insulation rating to the same voltage as the power cable. Interference could be an issue depending on the wiring setup. If you have a N-G bond at the external structure you may have current coupling issues. However, you may not have much coupling due to the fact that ethernet cable is twisted.

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*pfft* code. I'm not worried about code for a network cable...if that code even exists up here.

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"The amount of time needed to solve a problem is inversely proportionate to the complexity of the solution" -- Me

KM: R5.5
CPU: Athlon 3800+
Vid: nvidia 7300GT
Snd: Chaintech av-710
Tuner: PVR150
HD: 1000gb sata + 750gb sata + 500gb usb