Mains broadband

[Robert]

you should have 2 spare twisted pairs in the cable , try those !

[Andrew]

If it was underground, how has it become 'fragile' ?.

[John Rumm]

Its how I run data to my workshop...

With homeplug in general, when it works, it works well and needs no setting up - plug and go. Most units seem to be pretty reliable - I have not had any lockups or needed to reset of re-pair them, although some people have more difficulty.

However it has limitations. You will get the fastest speeds when the two devices share the same circuit. They will also work between circuits, but performance drops off.

On my setup I am running through three CUs, and a pile of RCDs and MCBs. The range is probably only 30m:

Home plug device -> MCB -> RCD -> RCD -> Fuse -> RCD ->MCB -> Home plug device

But that is enough to drop the data rate to no more than about 5 Mbps. On simpler circuit arrangements you might get 20+ times that.

Alternatively, you could look at wireless bridge options. That can work well for longer ranges with the right kit.

[The Natural Philosopher]

+1

[John Rumm]

That has not been my experience at all. Although I will concede I have only done a few dozen installs with them.

I found them particularly helpful for the backhaul connections to wifi access points. (in fact some have the WAPs built in).

Also good for drop shipping to non techy users who suddenly have found they need to get data to their home office, or that the new smart TV won't stream reliably in the bedroom. Needless to say I used loads of them at the start of lockdown!

[newshound]

verb (used with object), dep·re·cat·ed, dep·re·cat·ing. to express earnest disapproval of. to urge reasons against; protest against (a scheme, purpose, etc.).

[Fredxx]

That does rather depend on whether the OP is using Gigabit devices.

Otherwise I would agree it would be a smart move to understand which pairs have connectivity.

There are enough of means to check, for example:

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

If you live within half a mile of a short wave listener or ham, don't bother. These are inventions of the devil. Mains wiring is inherently loss prone so huge signals are shove back and forth and if you have a radio around you will first hear the ticking, not unlike the tickover of a car, and then the screeching sounds as data flows over the wiring. They leak the signal merely because the signals seem to be between about 4Mhz and 29Mhz and with tiny notches for the ham bands but NOT for the shortwave broadcast bands, which makes listening very painful indeed. They breach the Wireless Telegraphy act, but blind eyes abound due to the congestion in wifi and nobody wanting to use cables any more. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Yes indeed and faster. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I would say that they are illegal to use, but not to buy, and as I said, blind eyes are increasingly turned by Ofcom, due to many short wave stations now being on the internet. However I feel, morally they are wrong as they stop people from using kit they own due to somebody being too lazy to lay a cable along between two points. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

The ham bands, as I say are now protected, but not the broadcast bands, and nor is critical short wave traffic from ships and aircraft, which has caused problems at the land side stations in recent years. Not every link is done via satellite you know. I think polluting the rf spectrum as cheap wall warts, laptop chargers and low energy lamps as well as these thing do will, one day come back and bite us. Brian

[charles]

It isn't always a matter of being too lazy. Sometimes it's b***** difficult to do it, especially to do it neatly.

[Martin Brown]

I would have more sympathy for your position had HMG protected the 27MHz Radio Control Model Band from the ludicrous kW class CB radios. Legal to sell them but not to use them. Utter madness!

As it is the ethernet over mains devices *are* licensed for use in the UK. Software defined radio has allowed much more sophisticated ways of receiving SW that can get around modest amounts of local interference.

Although if you are a radio ham then ethernet over power line is probably not for you!

[williamwright]

Cleans a big big carpet, for less than half a crown!

Bill

[Andy Burns]

I can't see how they're illegal to use, BT wouldn't supply them with their routers if they were illegal.

[David Wade]

If its an outside workshop/office I would expect it to be on a separate ring and with a separate RCBO. Now I have tried a couple of models and find they are OK when you are on the same ring, but as soon as you put them on separate rings odd things seem to happen.

Some times they don't work flat out. Sometimes they drop. I think a new bit of CAT5 or if its in WiFi range you might try a WiFi range extender with access point..

Dave G4UGM

[Michael Chare]

Blue is for water. Google for underground pipe color code.

[Chris Green]

That is sort of what I said. :-)

[Ian Jackson]

It's bad enough that the regulations about RF radiation limits are often deliberately so lax, without actually marketing devices that use a technology that is almost deliberately designed to be impossible to avoid it.

AIUI, these units are only legal in the UK because, about 15 years ago, they were EN-approved by a German test house. This meant that they were then OK to use throughout the EU. One of the few advantages of Brexit could be that the UK could ban them (but, of course, we won't).

[charles]

In this house they work between 4 separate rings.