[Sussex] Home Automation and Ethernet over powerline

[Nico Kadel-Garcia]

Nic James Ferrier wrote:
> Colin Tuckley <colin at tuckley.org> writes:
>
>   
>>> Straight into the ring main, without using a power strip.
>>>       
>> A power strip is just extension wiring, it shouldn't make any
>> difference.
>>     
>
> It does.
>
> I have 3 of these devices in my house. I have one plugged into a
> power strip and that is very unreliable.
>
> Someone told me that this was because the line was "too clean" but
> I've no idea whether that was bs or not.
>   
I've designed power circuitry, for medical research. A lot of power 
strips with surge protection, etc. have a bit of capacitive filtering on 
them as part of the surge protection and to reduce signals from 
appliances (such as computers!) being fed back down the power lines or 
interfering with other devices on the same strips and causing 
fascinating groundn loop problems. And there are *ALWAYS* signal losses 
on the actual power circuitry between rooms, which often travels by some 
amazingly circuitous routes with some very odd signal characteristics. 
These can be especially bad on a poor quality and overloaded power 
strip, where the thin wires just present too high an impedance to carry 
sensitive signals and the other locally plugged in devices present a 
too-low impedance pathway for the signals to pass down.

Whether this is what's happening in your setup is something that can be 
investigated with a good low-capacitance, high-voltage capable 
oscilloscope. But those aren't cheap: doing some plug it in, try it 
without a power strip in the way, etc. sort of testing is easy and 
reasonably safe.