homeplugs

[Stuart Noble]

Anyone got any experience of these things? This is not to run a network or anything, just one PC on the first floor with cable entry on the ground floor. Are they affected by transformers and all the usual PC spaghetti being in close proximity?

Any thoughts appreciated

[Simon]

In my experience, with these

they are easy to set up, secure and very reliable. Much more relaible than any wireless ethernet I've tried.

I'm not sure how often they provide their maxiumum specified bandwidth, but it sounds like you'll only be routing a broadband feed over it, so the broadband is likely to be the bottleneck.

[Lobster]

Have a look at the recent thread I started "OT: recommendations for networked drive?" - this came up as a bit of a sub-topic in that.

David

[Mike Barnes]

Adjacent kit makes no difference AFAIK, unlike with WiFi. The recommendation is to plug them into a wall socket rather than an extension lead, for maximum data rate. Some are rather bulky and block adjacent sockets.

You're bound to get less than the headline data rate but they'll be more reliable, more secure, and easier to set up than any wireless solution. If your budget will stand it go for the 200 Mbps models, and expect 50 Mbps.

[tony sayer]

In article , Stuart Noble scribeth thus

are a very good supplier of such things, and have a lot of product know how and support....

[Stuart Noble]

Thanks. I've read the blurb but thought they seemed too good to be true

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ive been following the various threads here and elsewhere, and the answere seems to be 'mostly very well' but some people have had issues in some areas where they simply don't work at all.

However, MOSTLY better than wireless. For fixed installations, but NEVER as good as cat 5...

[ramrod]

I have used these..... straight forward ! Good for use in an area where wiFi is bad in a house ! Plug into wall socks ... uses the earth cable i believe ! One straight to PC the other into a Router.. near the main PC . DHCP will automatically give an IP address.

[Stuart Noble]

Ah. Hadn't thought about that. I don't think I can allow it to hog a whole double socket but maybe it'll deliver the required 2 Mbps on an extension lead.

[Mike Barnes]

The model I use (dLan 200 AVDesk) is on a flying lead, so (unusually) it doesn't suffer from that problem.

I do *much* better than that on a path that includes an extension lead (see the thread "OT: recommendations for networked drive?"). In fact for

2 Mbps I'd consider using a previous generation model (85 Mbps) because those are cheaper and often small enough not to block adjacent sockets.

Someone else mention Solwise and I'd second that - ask them what they'd advise for your situation.

[Stuart Noble]

Thanks Mike

[dennis]

Use 2-way "brick" to extend it from the socket a bit, I had to do that on a couple of wall warts to avoid fitting extra sockets.

Any normal extension that isn't 100m of coiled cable should give you that speed. ;-) Extension cables aren't likely to be any worse than T&E at those frequencies. They are radio devices even if its mainly carried on the cable.

[Mike the unimaginative]

Stuart Noble wrote in news:teDtj.640$ [e-mail]:

Lou at Solwise is a very genuine bloke - his stuff works, and at a very good price (compared to the alternatives). I run a network of 5 networked devices using Solwise Homeplugs - always have worked seamlessly, without a blip - ever!

[Mike the unimaginative]

ramrod wrote in news:55a2118b-001f-4d04-9f2d- [e-mail]:

The Solwise ones don't use the earth - I've got a couple on my network that are Europlug 2-pin (bought for an excursion into the mainland a couple of years back where I needed to network through French mains wiring). These work fine with the UK 3 pin versions.

[John Rumm]

We have used lots of them in a number of situations - they work very well in general. Best performance when plugged into the wall and not an extension lead, and they don't like being on the output of a UPS either!

[John Rumm]

Solwise have a version with a power lead that solves that problem.

[Stuart Noble]

I can't believe that Virgin aren't offering this option. A lot of potential customers are put off by the prospect of cable running all over the place, and don't fancy the possible complications of a router. This sounds a bit of a doddle for £40. Of course the registration process will probably take all day, but maybe Virgin have sorted that out since taking over.

[nimbusjunk]

I agree Solwise are great WEP key on wireless transmitter bit proper instructions Worked perfectly 12 months HTH Phil

[John Rumm]

There ought to come a time where routers with homeplug built in are common, and so are PCs with the capacity built in. Then home networking truly will be plug and play.

[stuart_noblenospam]

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Just as an update, the Solwise homeplugs worked like a dream straight from the box. No problems on a 6 socket extension lead with all the other PC stuff. That's new technology for you! Then I got to thinking about baby alarms 30 years ago. Maybe not so new.