Computer network problem

[Swarfmaker]

I've posted this on a couple of networking groups but got no useful responses, so knowing that this group has a wealth of knowledge on many subjects I'm trying it here.

I've had a network running for a couple of years using these HomePlug devices as well has Cat5 and wireless. Recently the computer in the Garage was unable to connect to the network using these devices. I swopped devices about but have been unable to get this computer to connect. This week the computer in one of the bedrooms has shown the same fault. After some more testing it seems that computers on the same mains ring as the device connected to the router can connect to the network, but devices on any other ring can't. There has been no work done on the electrics recently. Any ideas as to what's going on and how to fix it?

Iain

[John Rumm]

Assuming you have not setup security on some of the HomePlug devices and not others, then it could it be one or more of the the HomePlug devices is losing output power? Hence spanning circuits is getting "harder". Another possibility would be an increase in electrical interference on the circuit reducing the effective range. Given they can be had fairly cheaply these days, it might be worth getting another to test with.

[Fredxx]

I suspect you have RCBOs on each circuit. They act as a nice filter to HF generated by a home plug and things were already marginal.

Appliances also have suppression which will further degrade performance. Have you bought anything new recently?

[Bob Minchin]

In the past, I tested mine out into my workshop which has electrically noisy, single to 3 phase converters running multi-horsepower motors and saw now degradation in file download times. Bob

[The Natural Philosopher]

Tis a bugger.

Those things send RF through the mains, and an MCB makes a very decent RF choke.

What you need is better capacitative coupling between rings. If there is a place you can arrange and bind cables side by side, that might do it. I hesitate to suggest shoving capacitirs between the actual lives in the consumer unit, as they would need to be high voltage and its essentially very against elfin safety,

But if you can push the offending lives into a bunch, that may get it all working again.

A possible would be winding the lives with a bit of flex and carrying over to wrap the other lives. This making a crude sort of capacitor.

[Fredxx]

More expense, but it should be able to bridge from one circuit to another, with an ethernet cable between the two.

[Steve Walker]

The obvious question is "what new device did you (or a neighbour) plug in around that time?". A badly suppressed appliance anywhere in the house, or nearby, would be my first guess.

[Steve Walker]

Dirt cheap - I bought some from ebuyer recently to use instead of trailing ethernet leads across/around a room. They self-configure, and they're fast enough for anything except multi-gig transfers.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Swarfmaker has brought this to us :

My guess would be that whilst you have carried out no work on the electrics, that you have plugged in devices with built in filters. Many things these days come with a filter installed on the mains input to them. PC's, printers, TV's and etc..

Try unplugging all of the none essential ones and see if they then manage to connect.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I hope you are joking..CAT 5 or coax with main on it!!??*&^!"

Or did you means couple two units on different rings..?

[The Natural Philosopher]

or indeed anything with lots of RF filters in it, like a new computah.

[John Rumm]

Yup, my experience has been they are fairly bomb proof... much less hassle than getting reliable wireless in some buildings.

[John Rumm]

I suspect he meant the latter!

[Fredxx]

Indeed!!

[Bob Minchin]

My house has a lot of 1920s cinderblocks on internal walls and is 14m long. Impossible to get a WiFi signal from one end to the other. I've even tinked with directional antennas. Homeplug fixed the issue connecting a pair of WiFi networks together. Bob

[Tim W]

Bob Minchin wibbled on Saturday 31 October 2009 18:16

How about several cheap OpenWRT supported routers and make a mesh network?

I've had a play with 1/2 dozen Linksys thingies and a mesh and it really does work quite well.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Thank gawd for that! are they cheap enough?

[Clint Sharp]

In message , Steve Walker writes

Funnily enough, I'd suspect exactly the opposite, anything with decent RF filtering and/or suppression could cause problems.

[Fredxx]

John Rumm gave a link earlier where they were £20 a piece. It should also be possible to combine a ethernet hub and one of these to provide a network for more that one PC or another HomePlug device.

[John Rumm]

They do a version with a three port hub built in if you want...