Powerline Ethernet Adapters

DeLicious

Active Member
So, another thing I've considered is instead of wiring ethernet all over my house to set up a local network, there are Powerline Ethernet Adapters which use the existing electrical wiring (see Belkin Powerline Ethernet Adapter as an example).

Do these interfere with home automation powerline protocols, or would I be able to run these devices on my powerlines with UPB at the same time?
 
Don't know! Don't have any :)

I would assume you could use more than 1, but don't take my word for it.

The users manual for the Belkin product referenced above cites a 14 Mbps speed. I thought I had seen a couple others on the market that were much faster though (85 Mbps?).

Really, I know nothing about it... I was just hoping to see if anyone would know whether or not it would interfere with UPB communications.
 
i have these:

http://www.netgear.com/Products/BridgesAcc...ders/XE102.aspx

based on the older homeplug spec, maxes out @ 14 mbps. got them for $17 @ ubid a while back (with the $10 off $20 google buy promo that i made a few friends sign up so i could buy more :) ). they do not interfere w/ x10 and i'm pretty sure they're spec'd to not interfere w/ other powerline protocols.

i have 4 of these. 1 connected to my switch to bridge the powerline to my network and 3 connected to 3com audreys.

if you have a fry's electronics nearby, they have 'airlink' 85mbps powerline adapters for $29.
 
One thing to note about these ... They will not work when the outlets are on different phases of your electrical panel. I'm not sure if an X-10 like phase coupler will solve this problem, but it might.

lz

Edit: guess I should read more carefully, looks like damage is bridging with his network switch - good idea.
 
Here is the data sheet for the Netgear ethernet bridge that damage mentioned. The data sheet says you can use up to 5 in one house, and it does bridge the phases, so it looks like a good thing either way.
 
DeLicious said:
So, another thing I've considered is instead of wiring ethernet all over my house to set up a local network, there are Powerline Ethernet Adapters which use the existing electrical wiring (see Belkin Powerline Ethernet Adapter as an example).

Do these interfere with home automation powerline protocols, or would I be able to run these devices on my powerlines with UPB at the same time?
Welcome aboard DeLicious!

I would recommend you stay away from powerline Ethernet adapters and stick with wiring up with Cat5e. Tomhardware did a review recently about the new "85mbps" adaptors and basically said the speed claims were hugely inflated even when the computers were in the same room. Also, you get so much versatility when running Cat5...you can use it for about anything, ir, phone, etc. Something I'm not sure of is how it interacts with the PLC of UPB, Insteon, etc. Would it interfere with the communication on the network??

Good luck!

--Jamie
 
royalj7 said:
I would recommend you stay away from powerline Ethernet adapters and stick with wiring up with Cat5e. Tomhardware did a review recently about the new "85mbps" adaptors and basically said the speed claims were hugely inflated even when the computers were in the same room. Also, you get so much versatility when running Cat5...you can use it for about anything, ir, phone, etc. Something I'm not sure of is how it interacts with the PLC of UPB, Insteon, etc. Would it interfere with the communication on the network??

Good luck!

--Jamie
i agree, i would prefer hardwired cat5e, but in areas where you can't run cat5e, the powerline adapters are ideal. i wouldn't recommend it for your HA server or media server, etc. but if you have some thin clients or pcs that are only used for surfing the web then it really doesn't matter if you have 1gbps or 10 mbps. you can go wireless if you prefer. but the prices for ethernet-wireless bridges are 2-3x more than for ethernet-powerline.

homeplug is compatible w/ x10 ( http://www.hometoys.com/htinews/oct01/inte...meplug/reed.htm ) & insteon ( http://www.smartlabsinc.com/files/INSTEONC...ed20060102a.pdf ). i'm sure upb would have had to test with homeplug since homeplug has been around since the late 90s.
 
Reviving an old topic because I see they now have 200mbs units available here. Anybody know if these new faster units work OK with UPB, Insteon, and X-10? Anybody tried them yet?
 
upstatemike said:
Reviving an old topic because I see they now have 200mbs units available here. Anybody know if these new faster units work OK with UPB, Insteon, and X-10? Anybody tried them yet?
I use Airlink 85 Mbps for my large house, and it seems to work great. I put away my Linksys ethernet wifi bridge which only worked sporadically.

I have to say powerline ethernet has its merits - reliable in the right circumstances, and more secure!
 
I've got a set of Netgear HDX101 units. They are rated at 200mbs but I only get about 60-80mps. It's good enough to stream 720p for my Apple TV.

They didn't really work across phases until I added a UPB phase coupler which I needed for my UPB stuff anyway. No sign of any problem running them both on the same wiring.
 
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