Networking over home power lines
From the bit of reading I've done, it appears that a standard for networking over power lines was ratified in September 2010.
Linksys has a device (plek400) for about $100. What I can't seem to find out is what the maximum theoretical distance the signal can travel? I have a situation where I'd like to get a network drop into a building that is 400m away. I've toyed with the idea of a home-brew Wifi point-to-point system but it's still relatively expensive to buy two Buffalo radios plus external antennas etc. and even then it would be on the outside of the range for that type of solution. The building is defiantly on the same power "system" so can the network-over-power devices reach 400m ? John
My understanding is that a transformer will block that frequency. I had looked into it for a while and I read some people making block wide networks, but the at least in their situation the transformer at the end of the block was filtering. Keep the list updated, this is interesting stuff. :) Rob On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 11:48 AM, John Lange <john@johnlange.ca> wrote:
From the bit of reading I've done, it appears that a standard for networking over power lines was ratified in September 2010.
Linksys has a device (plek400) for about $100. What I can't seem to find out is what the maximum theoretical distance the signal can travel?
I have a situation where I'd like to get a network drop into a building that is 400m away. I've toyed with the idea of a home-brew Wifi point-to-point system but it's still relatively expensive to buy two Buffalo radios plus external antennas etc. and even then it would be on the outside of the range for that type of solution.
The building is defiantly on the same power "system" so can the network-over-power devices reach 400m ?
John _______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
I was in the middle of typing a reply that says basically the same thing -- I guess I'm not as fast at typing these days :-) Basically, the same thing -- The biggest hing you need to look at is to find out if the two end-points exist on the same side of the mains. Is this commercial or residential? If it's down the road, then it may be on a separate transformer as well. Even from a residential perspective, you can have issues since you have two lines coming into the house - you may have one circuit on one side and another circuit on the other side -- the transmission may not go through/cross-over the remote transformers. Similar issues arise from X10 usage as well ... different frequencies, but similar issues. Naturally, injecting the type of frequencies these use into the circuitry of your house can also cause that same injection to show up unwanted on devices that receive on those frequencies ... ie: radios and the like. Interference may show up. I'm not an advocate of Ethernet-over-power, (I'm a ham radio operator and these ethernet over power technologies spew RF everywhere) but would certainly look more to a wireless scenario. Dan. On 14 February 2012 12:34, Robert Keizer <robert@keizer.ca> wrote:
My understanding is that a transformer will block that frequency. I had looked into it for a while and I read some people making block wide networks, but the at least in their situation the transformer at the end of the block was filtering.
Keep the list updated, this is interesting stuff. :)
Rob
On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 11:48 AM, John Lange <john@johnlange.ca> wrote:
From the bit of reading I've done, it appears that a standard for networking over power lines was ratified in September 2010.
Linksys has a device (plek400) for about $100. What I can't seem to find out is what the maximum theoretical distance the signal can travel?
I have a situation where I'd like to get a network drop into a building that is 400m away. I've toyed with the idea of a home-brew Wifi point-to-point system but it's still relatively expensive to buy two Buffalo radios plus external antennas etc. and even then it would be on the outside of the range for that type of solution.
The building is defiantly on the same power "system" so can the network-over-power devices reach 400m ?
John _______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
Just to be clear, I'm 100% certain that there is no transformer between the buildings. Thats what I meant by "the same power system". On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 12:43 PM, ve4drk@gmail.com <catchall@keizer.ca> wrote:
these ethernet over power technologies spew RF everywhere) but would certainly look more to a wireless scenario.
heh.. Just chucking at the irony of that statement ;) John
LOL -- funny ... there are those types of transmissions that are controlled radiation and operate properly within their assigned frequency ranges -- and then there are those that are spurious (ie: not confined to their appropriate frequencies) and cause interference. I would categorize the ethernet-over-power as that type. But -- if you do try it, If they are on the same line, then it may work .. some say they can go 300m or so ... ideal conditions i suspect. Dan. On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 12:57 PM, John Lange <john@johnlange.ca> wrote:
Just to be clear, I'm 100% certain that there is no transformer between the buildings. Thats what I meant by "the same power system".
On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 12:43 PM, ve4drk@gmail.com <catchall@keizer.ca> wrote:
these ethernet over power technologies spew RF everywhere) but would certainly look more to a wireless scenario.
heh.. Just chucking at the irony of that statement ;)
John
I have a pair of Ethernet over power line units if you want to try them out. On 14/02/12 12:57, John Lange wrote:
Just to be clear, I'm 100% certain that there is no transformer between the buildings. Thats what I meant by "the same power system".
On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 12:43 PM, ve4drk@gmail.com<catchall@keizer.ca> wrote:
these ethernet over power technologies spew RF everywhere) but would certainly look more to a wireless scenario.
heh.. Just chucking at the irony of that statement ;)
John _______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
If they're extra noisy, lend them to Dan's neighbours. :) Sean On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 3:30 PM, Bill Reid <breid.wpg@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a pair of Ethernet over power line units if you want to try them out.
On 14/02/12 12:57, John Lange wrote:
Just to be clear, I'm 100% certain that there is no transformer between the buildings. Thats what I meant by "the same power system".
On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 12:43 PM, ve4drk@gmail.com<catchall@**keizer.ca<catchall@keizer.ca>> wrote:
these ethernet over power technologies spew RF everywhere) but would certainly look more to a wireless scenario.
heh.. Just chucking at the irony of that statement ;)
John ______________________________**_________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/**listinfo/roundtable<http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable>
______________________________**_________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/**listinfo/roundtable<http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable>
-- Sean Walberg <sean@ertw.com> http://ertw.com/
I imagine as well (though haven't tested or read definitively about it) that the signal can't go from one leg (one "hot") to the other. A 240V service has 2 legs, 2 hots, with a common neutral which is the center tap from the transformer, so each hot is 120V relative to neutral. A breaker panel usually has alternating groups of two breakers on each leg, e.g. 1 & 2 on the red, 3 & 4 on the black, and so on. I don't think the signal would go from an outlet on breaker 1 or 2 to one on 3 or 4. Similarly, when going from one building to another on the same transformer, you may need to experiment to find outlets on the same leg of the transformer in both buildings. I too am interested in how this works out. On 14/02/2012 12:34 PM, Robert Keizer wrote:
My understanding is that a transformer will block that frequency. I had looked into it for a while and I read some people making block wide networks, but the at least in their situation the transformer at the end of the block was filtering.
Keep the list updated, this is interesting stuff. :)
Rob
On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 11:48 AM, John Lange<john@johnlange.ca> wrote:
From the bit of reading I've done, it appears that a standard for networking over power lines was ratified in September 2010.
Linksys has a device (plek400) for about $100. What I can't seem to find out is what the maximum theoretical distance the signal can travel?
I have a situation where I'd like to get a network drop into a building that is 400m away. I've toyed with the idea of a home-brew Wifi point-to-point system but it's still relatively expensive to buy two Buffalo radios plus external antennas etc. and even then it would be on the outside of the range for that type of solution.
The building is defiantly on the same power "system" so can the network-over-power devices reach 400m ?
John
-- Gilles R. Detillieux E-mail:<grdetil@scrc.umanitoba.ca> Spinal Cord Research Centre WWW: http://www.scrc.umanitoba.ca/ Dept. Physiology, U. of Manitoba Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9 (Canada)
participants (7)
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Bill Reid -
Dan Keizer -
Gilles Detillieux -
John Lange -
Robert Keizer -
Sean Walberg -
ve4drk＠gmail.com