[Gllug] Powerline homeplug experiences

[Alistair Mann]

Karanbir Singh wrote:
> hi,
> 
> Just wondering if anyone uses / has used powerline homeplug kit and what 
> their experience was ?  I have a bunch of really long cables running 
> from different parts of the house, and it would be quite nice to replace 
> them with something like powerline adapters. But my primary concerns are:
> 
> - How 'Linux' compatible are they ? Would I be able to setup passwords 
> etc without the need of a Windows machine ?
> 
> - Do they really run at advertised speeds ? 40Mbps is quite ok for me, 
> but does it really run at 40Mbps.
> 
> - KB

I've installed several dozen houses with these.

A few years ago, people stopped asking for their homes to have 
structured cabling put in place in favour of Wireless. In the last nine 
months, I've seen a drop off in Wireless installs in favour of powerlans.

PowerLans are about 10% more expensive than installing wireless for two 
computers; it is about a third the labour involved of installing 
wireless; it has always achieved higher transfer rates than wireless; 
and it is also /considerably/ more reliable than wireless. Once in 
place, it is platform neutral -- if you have ethernet traffic, it'll 
take it.

PowerLans have failed in a number of situations, the common factor being 
houses with multiple power circuits, either through provision of extra 
load or older houses with additional circuits following building 
extensions. PowerLan does not work across two different circuits; in 
each situation it has been sufficient to discover where the circuits 
'nearly' meet, and run a patch cable between a powerlan device on each, 
or achieve the same with wireless. PowerLan does degrade, but I've yet 
to see an installation where that became a problem before the power was 
provided over multiple circuits.

I've not timed whether transfer speeds reach what they say on the tin, 
only whether the speed from one part of a building is higher/ more 
reliable compared with wireless, but it wouldn't surprise me to see it 
be actually so.

AFAIK, there is as yet not a Linux utility for setting the password on 
the adapters, but with some newer cable/adsl routers having a PowerLan 
component, I would imagine passwords could be set via the browser. Not 
yet had the oppo to see though.

I've not had the oppo either to see if neighbour A can 'see' neighbour 
'B's PowerLan, although I know the fuse box doesn't stop it, as some 
people seem to think. Also the devices all say that they should plug 
directly into the wall -- all the adapters I've seen on power strips 
have been just fine.

All in all, I think PowerLan (PowerLine, whatever) is a better bet than 
wireless, lack of Linux password utility not withstanding, and would 
happily recommend them to anyone.

Cheers,
-- 
Alistair Mann
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