Powerline With Central Web Management

[parityboy]

I have a set of Zyxel powerline adapters and I'm looking to replace them as part of a network-wide overhaul. However, what I would really like is a set of powerline adapters where I can manage the entire powerline network from a single console.

Do any powerline adapter manufacturers support this feature? What about other things like SNMP?

Additionally, I'm curious as to if there is third-party firmware for Powerline Adapters (the equivalent of Tomato or DD-WRT)?

 

[parityboy]

Is there any reason why you'd want to put this much effort into polishing the turd that is powerline networking? I've hard wired stuff in rental houses before and nobody ever notices an extra outlet on the wall because they just would never expect a tenant to do that, just do a neat job.

Everyone's operating environment is different, bear that in mind.

Devolo Cockpit lets you see you all your adaptors in a single screen:

https://www.devolo.co.uk/internet-in-any-room/devolo-cockpit

I've never seen my dLANs pickup an IP, so SNMP would be out.

Many thanks for this, I'll take a look.

 

[parityboy]

Powerline adapters don't work at a level where they could have an IP address. It'd be like expecting an unmanaged network switch to have an IP address.

The most you can really expect Powerline tools to do is:-

• Display the link speeds (PHY layer so much higher than the actual useful transfer rates).
• Update the firmware.
• Change the encryption keys (always a good idea).

My current pair of Zyzel PLA4231 adapters each have a web server running on them with a configuration page enabling them to be set up via a web browser. Needless to say, they are IP-addressable.

The more important question is why? Once it’s set-up, what exactly are you wanting to ‘manage’?

You could argue the same point concerning pure WiFi access points, especially considering that most powerline adapters also serve as WiFi access points.

 

[parityboy]

The PLA4231 will have an IP because it contains an access point. If you have Powerline only adapters there won’t be an IP.

Aha! Learned something new.