Powerline Adapter Help

BrightSpark101

BrightSpark101

BrightSpark101

Associate
Joined
17 Aug 2011
Posts
120
Location
Surrey
Hi there everyone,

I have searched for an answer on here already but didn't find anything that really helped me out.

Right on with my problem.

I have built myself a PC but due to a lack of space in my house the only place I can put it is in my Mums office (she is sacrificing part of it for me). Her office is at the end of the garden in a fancy shed/small house/chalet thing, now my problem is getting a internet connection down there! I have decided wireless will not be good enough and I want to avoid routing a ethernet cable through my house if I can.

Therefore my solution is to use powerline adapters. Now I'm not completely up to speed on these but other people on here seem to rate them quite highly.

Now then my Mum's office has mains power going to it, however it is on its own circuit between the fuse box and the office. What I need to know is whether or not the powerline adapters can send their signal from my main electrical circuit to the office down the garden? Does the signal travel throughout the whole house circuit? Or does it just travel between adapters?

Any help you guys can give me would be great! :)
 
Powerline adapters worked out to my shed when I tried them, although the speed suffered compared to adapters within the house.

If they don’t work all the way out to the garden office you could use them to get the signal across the house to somewhere suitable, and then run an Ethernet cable from there.
 
The signal gets sent round the house circuit, and possibly through to your neighbours. Although the signal will be pretty weak after it goes through your meter so there's not much worry about that.

Remember if the cabling to the shed is bad then you'll not get a great connection.
 
Hey guys,

Thanks a lot for your replies! I really appreciate it! The electricity cable down to the shed is good quality and was laid properly by a decent sparky. So I guess I'll get a couple of adapters and try my luck! If it doesn't work for some reason I can always sell them on!
 
Best thing to do is buy them and try them out. If they are no good then you could probably sell them on and lost out on a few quid. I bought the TP link ones for my property and they are fantastic :)
 
happy_2008 said:
I bought the TP link ones for my property and they are fantastic :)
Click to expand...

Seconded, I then got my brother to get a pair for his connection in the loft. It works pretty well. I found out that he only needed an extra plug and not a pair as my plug could actually be shared but it turned out cheaper buying two more and we could possibly use it for another PC if needs be.

Mine were the TP-Link PA211 Kit, which as you mention BrightSpark is the black and white ones, they're quite small too which I'm happy about.

You usually hear about reviews saying they stop working after a while or go bust, but all 3 have been running for 2-3 months straight now and it's all okay :)
 
Would you all be confused if I said, the signal isn't actually sent though the house circuitry to the other one?
Instead the powerline adaptors use what electrical circuitry it has to create a kind of 'antenna' and they communicate wirelessly. Not many people know that.

It's also one of the reasons they don't work when you plug them into extension leads.
 
Emphacy said:
Would you all be confused if I said, the signal isn't actually sent though the house circuitry to the other one?
Click to expand...

Yes, I thought they just emit the signals and the one on the other end decodes it, not directly sent but broadcast and the other adapter catches said data.

Mine works plugged into an extension lead.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread but a quick question - due to me being lazy and not wanting to run cables through the house I have been considering these. Last time I read up on them apparently they used to run very warm/hot. This still the case?
 
Hey guys well I just bought the TP-Link PA211 Kit so fingers crossed they work down the garden. Thanks for the help everyone and thanks Emphacy knowledge is always welcome! I'll report back when they arrive. :)
 
Emphacy said:
Would you all be confused if I said, the signal isn't actually sent though the house circuitry to the other one?
Instead the powerline adaptors use what electrical circuitry it has to create a kind of 'antenna' and they communicate wirelessly. Not many people know that.

It's also one of the reasons they don't work when you plug them into extension leads.
Click to expand...

I would be amazed and would love to see something to back it up, it was definately my understanding that they used the wires which was why they didn't origionally work accross multiple phases etc.

They also work fine in extension leads as other people have pointed out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom