[Solved] Advice needed on installing a Powerline system

[joddle]

I raised part of this in an earlier post but now really need to move forward so having thought about the advice given earlier and having had several attempts at getting a usable wi fi system around my house using wireless repeaters, I have finally come to the conclusion that maybe the best way to achieve my needs is by using a homeplug/powerline system to satisfy the needs of our family of 5 who all have devices connecting to the internet..

 

The main problem is that I live in a rambling old house with very thick walls and wi fi seemingly cannot penetrate to any useful extent. In addition I now have a boy at uni who needs a good connection for his studies but his room is about as far away from the router as can be imagined and thus he has great difficulty in getting any sort of connection, never mind a speedy or reliable one. Running cables around the house is not an option.

 

So my thoughts are this - use a homeplug/powerline system in the following format with three main devices.

 

1 - office with main router and four connected PCs - use input homeplug with two connectors so I can still connect all the PCs by using second Ethernet connection

2 - Lounge - one wi fi plug using the Ethernet output for the tv (so the family can use Netflix) and the wifi so they can use their phones etc.in that part of the house

3 - Boys study - a second wi fi plug so he can connect his laptop but still use his phone from there but would give also give some wi fi to the other upstairs bedrooms.

 

Hoping this is a sensible proposal - and if so now comes the second set of questions - Can I mix different makes of homeplug and can different speeds be mixed? I am thinking of a system based around the 500mb-p-s plugs but could I add a cheaper plug if needed in another room for say a guest laptop or if my daughter want to use one of the PCs in another room where the wifi does not reach very well.

 

I have been looking at the TP link systems but also the Dlink ones but other on the market seem to do some of what I want as well - hence the questions of mix and match!

 

Any advice on this much appreciated.

Edited December 29, 2018 by KenB

[KenB]

Hi

Sorry for the slow response - I have been away for a few days.

 

Can I mix different makes of homeplug and can different speeds be mixed?

Technically you can mix different manufacturers as long as they are based on the same standard.

There is no guarantee however - so consider buying all the same make just to be sure.

 

The TP Link system that I have allows 500 Mb/s but the wireless extenders operate at 300 Mb/s - does this answer your question ?

 

I use the system you describe for your lounge - wired to TV - it works well.

 

I did read somewhere that if you have 2 ring mains this system will not work. [ just searched for this and cannot locate it again ]

However, I do have two separate rings [ upstairs and downstairs ] and it works fine for me.

I think I have a common earth [ ground ]

[joddle]

Hi

Sorry for the slow response - I have been away for a few days.

 

 

Technically you can mix different manufacturers as long as they are based on the same standard.

There is no guarantee however - so consider buying all the same make just to be sure.

 

The TP Link system that I have allows 500 Mb/s but the wireless extenders operate at 300 Mb/s - does this answer your question ?

 

I use the system you describe for your lounge - wired to TV - it works well.

 

I did read somewhere that if you have 2 ring mains this system will not work. [ just searched for this and cannot locate it again ]

However, I do have two separate rings [ upstairs and downstairs ] and it works fine for me.

I think I have a common earth [ ground ]

 

Sounds good and thanks - here in Spain they don't have ring mains so hoping that is not an issue anyway - I am sure it won't work if you have two separate phases but if you are on the same phase throughout the building I would have thought it should be OK.

 

I cant imagine that the speed wont be good enough as at the moment with our wi fi repeaters we can still just about get a signal although the speed is very slow so hoping the powerline system will be some improvement on that..

[KenB]

Let us know how you get on :)

[joddle]

Sorry for tardy reply - forgot I had left this open. Anyway I have found two more multiport adapters and they all work fine in my setup which now is the router feeding a 2 port TP link near the router, then further away two more single poert adapters each feeding a pc and then two additional wifi adaptors, one feeding the tv and the PS3 and providing wifi in our lounge area and the other located in the far end of the house well away from the router supplying wifi for a Roku and a laptop. Even at the far end of the house over wifi we are getting well over 30mbps up and down so more than enough for our needs. Even thought the system is not of the highest spec (AV500) it is plenty good enough for what we are doing with it and works really well. Much better then the old wifi repeater system we used to have

[KenB]

Hi - and thank you for the update.

Glad the system is working for you :)