Gh.n (Powerline) over phonelines (Unshielded Twisted Pair)

g67575 · 4 Apr 2021 at 07:42

I was wondering if there might be something better than AV2 Homeplugs, that many of us are now familiar with. The latency on my AV2 Homeplugs recently started spiking and I have no idea why (previously upto 5ms to my router, now 60ms, with throughput dips).

Inevitably, someone will want to suggest ethernet cable networking at this point - It's not an option for my family right now. But undeniably, a good option for many.

I found this, it's a product that allows home networking over phonelines (as opposed to networking over electrical wiring). It's pretty new, probably the 2nd generation of this type of product (Gh.n standard) and quite expensive. I have no idea what the data throughput, packet loss and latency would be like, compared to AV2 Homeplugs and standard ethernet cable.

Link here:
https://www.solwise.co.uk/net-ghn-tp-e2000m

The fundamental idea seems sound, and there are at least 4-5 phoneline extension points around my home. Presumably, it wouldn't be vulnerable to the same electrical noise that Homeplug AV devices often suffer from.

Has anyone tried this, or a similar product before, or is there any info about it anywhere yet?

bremen1874 · 4 Apr 2021 at 19:42

Have you confirmed that your telephone extensions are wired with twisted pair cable?

d_brennen · 4 Apr 2021 at 19:59

At £218 a pair they want to be good. Never heard of it tbh

Inb4 run a cable reply

WJA96 · 5 Apr 2021 at 14:39

bremen1874 said:
Have you confirmed that your telephone extensions are wired with twisted pair cable?

+1 for this. If it’s 4-core (2 x 2 pair) then you can just reterminate the connections for a 10/100Mbps RJ45 plug or socket. If you really luck out and they’ve wired it with CAT5e then you already have the cables run for a full gigabit connection.

bremen1874 · 5 Apr 2021 at 21:15

True, but really what I was getting at.

It's quite possible for telephone extensions to be wired with what's basically untwisted alarm cable. Fine for voice, awful for data. If they are, then these adapters aren't going to work.

philip2009 · 5 Apr 2021 at 21:20

g67575 said:
Has anyone tried this, or a similar product before, or is there any info about it anywhere yet?

I imported(from US) some of these(older revision) phone line networking cards and used them without a problem back in the 90s or early 2000s. They were dirt cheap back then. Maybe not comparable to these cards but that's my 2 cents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePNA

goscha76 · 20 Mar 2022 at 18:06

look at this - https://www.gigacopper.net/web/en/index_en.html .
Seem to use the same technology.

g67575 · 20 Mar 2022 at 20:26

It's interesting, but I wired up most my house with Cat6A a little while ago.

Still get packet loss, presumably just a bad VDSL2 line :rolleyes:

Diegob · 30 Jun 2022 at 13:59

Hi all. I live in Italy and i cna assure you those system works pretty well. I live in an old 5 stories building with too little pipes to run FTTH fiber cables. I have however the old twisted phone line which runs from my floor (4) to the basement. I firstly used a powerline adapter but I was limited to a speed of around 150 mbps . Then i switched to a g.hn to twisted pair (not the solwise one but a different hongkong brand) and it works like a charm. I get a 500mbps speed up and down and have no issues at all. The system is totally zeroconf and you’ll have to plug the chord. Simply google for “g.hn twisted pair” and you’ll find infos and prices.

g67575 · 30 Jun 2022 at 14:15

Sounds amazing, assuming there's no performance issues. I wonder if this technology will catch on? Depends on cost and existing wiring in people's homes, ofc.

goscha76 · 30 Jun 2022 at 14:50

Diegob said:
Hi all. I live in Italy and i cna assure you those system works pretty well. I live in an old 5 stories building with too little pipes to run FTTH fiber cables. I have however the old twisted phone line which runs from my floor (4) to the basement. I firstly used a powerline adapter but I was limited to a speed of around 150 mbps . Then i switched to a g.hn to twisted pair (not the solwise one but a different hongkong brand) and it works like a charm. I get a 500mbps speed up and down and have no issues at all. The system is totally zeroconf and you’ll have to plug the chord. Simply google for “g.hn twisted pair” and you’ll find infos and prices.

there are many ... gigacopper, allnet ... - what have you used? and why it is only 500Mbit? is it a g.hn wave1 device?

Armageus · 30 Jun 2022 at 15:01

g67575 said:
Sounds amazing, assuming there's no performance issues. I wonder if this technology will catch on? Depends on cost and existing wiring in people's homes, ofc.

Why would it ever catch on?
"Normal" people use wifi for everything, and "techie" people will run cable everywhere that's needed.

Powerline is a niche product in itself, that sort of slots in between the 2 ends of the spectrum above, but at least has the benefit that most people have electrical sockets, often in fairly convenient places (i.e. nearby the power sockets are normally next to the device that needs an ethernet connection)

This product lives in an even smaller niche, as how many people have multiple phone extensions in convenient locations?

g67575 · 30 Jun 2022 at 15:25

I don't know actually. I think (some) older homes have more telephone extensions, I'd guess these are being phased out now though. I'd expect the bandwidth not to be sufficient for 1/2gbps connections though (assuming the advertised bandwidth does not mean the total throughput), so there's obvious limitations.

goscha76 · 30 Jun 2022 at 15:54

have seen lot of cool houses without Ethernet wiring but getting fiber Access in the basement. And no WiFi will go threw the walls and beton plate from the basement. so g.hn helps there a lot

Wizzkidy · 3 Jul 2022 at 14:16

What a lot of hassle just because running ethernet is not an option for your family, what does this actually mean?