Homeplugs -- How do they work?

M

marvir

Enthusiast
Hey guys,

I just moved addresses, and although I did add a wifi card to my build but it's really tough to get signal. I've looked around the forums and a lot of people have suggested homeplugs, and just wondered.. How do they work exactly? And what/ how many would I need?

As an example, the router in this house is downstairs, and my pc is upstairs.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Okay, I've looked around some more, is it correct to say that I will need 2 homeplugs -- 1 next to the router, then 1 for my pc? I'm still not sure I can wrap my head around the idea of it.
 
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W

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
All you need is a spare plug socket next to your PC and next to your router. The homeplugs will route your internet through your power circuits already in your house. However, they are incompatible with surge protectors and perform somewhat poorly on standard multi-plug adaptors although still work.

*Forgot to add that an ethernet cable will be required between the router and the downstairs homeplug, as well as the PC and the upstairs homeplug. You can also add more homeplugs (same brand/model) elsewhere in the house and only require a single homeplug connected to the router.
 
M

marvir

Enthusiast
Wozza365 said:
All you need is a spare plug socket next to your PC and next to your router. The homeplugs will route your internet through your power circuits already in your house. However, they are incompatible with surge protectors and perform somewhat poorly on standard multi-plug adaptors although still work.

*Forgot to add that an ethernet cable will be required between the router and the downstairs homeplug, as well as the PC and the upstairs homeplug. You can also add more homeplugs (same brand/model) elsewhere in the house and only require a single homeplug connected to the router.
Click to expand...

Ooh okay so the data is transmitted through the electrics? Does it make for a very good connection then?
 
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W

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
marvir said:
Ooh okay so the data is transmitted through the electrics? Does it make for a very good connection then?
Click to expand...

Yes that is how it works. The connection is usually stable, however mean do need to be reset occasionally. Ping is much better than wireless as well as data speeds. They are the ideal solution for a weak spot for wireless and too far for a direct wired solution.
 
M

marvir

Enthusiast
Wozza365 said:
Yes that is how it works. The connection is usually stable, however mean do need to be reset occasionally. Ping is much better than wireless as well as data speeds. They are the ideal solution for a weak spot for wireless and too far for a direct wired solution.
Click to expand...

Okay, that sounds promising, I'll give em a go. Also, what's the difference between the wattages? I'm looking at some Solwise products and there is a 200AV, 500AV and other wattage options. Which ones should I go for? Are certain brands better than others?
 
W

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
I believe it is the maximum speed they can carry. I recommend 500Mbps ones, I had a lower speed set and my downloads speeds were heavily bottlenecked.

Also I think TP-Link is the best brand for quality, however like most products that doesn't translate to best value for money. There are plenty of articles available comparing the best ones, however all should be fairly similar just look out for best price and also a good warranty is always a bonus just incase.
 
W

welchb

Active member
@marvir -- not sure if you have orderd or not (if you have sorry it's late and ignore this).

There are differnet brands however the main ones 'seem' to be Solwise, Develo & TP-Link for the UK, however I'm sure others will recoomend other brands.

I've used Solwise for a few years and can personally recommend them (I'm not affiliated to the company in any shape or form) and as above you need a minimum of 2.

1 connected to your Router (wired ethernet cable) -- which basically extends the network onto you mains electrics

+1 connected @ the remote end -- again this is normally connected via a wired ethernet cable for best/fastest performance. Some of the homeplugs have multiple ports on them so you can connect more than one device via a wired connection.

There are also WiFi versions of these homeplugs -- similar set-up to the above. The 1st one is always connected to the mains/router
The WiFi one can be plugged into another part of your house and depending on the make model will have 1 wired connection and can be configured to be a WiFi access point.

My personal set-up I have -->

3 Wired home plugs -1 on the Router (the main one), 1 in the spare room/study room for my wife's PC and 1 for the SMART TV.
in addition I have 1 WiFi homeplug (so 4 in total).

The WiFi homeplug does have an ethernet port, albeit I don't use it and basically extends a WiFi signal at the back of the house/in the garden.
All my products are Solwise hence why I can recommend them and have been very reliable. Had the odd lose of network and normally a power off/on reolves this however that's only been about once in 8months

Whatever brand you decide look out for the faster chip sets, these offer faster line speeds and are supposidly more reliable.
 
M

marvir

Enthusiast
welchb said:
@marvir -- not sure if you have orderd or not (if you have sorry it's late and ignore this).

There are differnet brands however the main ones 'seem' to be Solwise, Develo & TP-Link for the UK, however I'm sure others will recoomend other brands.

I've used Solwise for a few years and can personally recommend them (I'm not affiliated to the company in any shape or form) and as above you need a minimum of 2.

1 connected to your Router (wired ethernet cable) -- which basically extends the network onto you mains electrics

+1 connected @ the remote end -- again this is normally connected via a wired ethernet cable for best/fastest performance. Some of the homeplugs have multiple ports on them so you can connect more than one device via a wired connection.

There are also WiFi versions of these homeplugs -- similar set-up to the above. The 1st one is always connected to the mains/router
The WiFi one can be plugged into another part of your house and depending on the make model will have 1 wired connection and can be configured to be a WiFi access point.

My personal set-up I have -->

3 Wired home plugs -1 on the Router (the main one), 1 in the spare room/study room for my wife's PC and 1 for the SMART TV.
in addition I have 1 WiFi homeplug (so 4 in total).

The WiFi homeplug does have an ethernet port, albeit I don't use it and basically extends a WiFi signal at the back of the house/in the garden.
All my products are Solwise hence why I can recommend them and have been very reliable. Had the odd lose of network and normally a power off/on reolves this however that's only been about once in 8months

Whatever brand you decide look out for the faster chip sets, these offer faster line speeds and are supposidly more reliable.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that extra information! I just checked back in to comment on my experience with the homeplugs I bought actually.

I bought the TP-Link TL-PA451KIT AV500, and the difference is night and day. When I first set up my PC in the room (upstairs, router is downstairs) my upload speed was oddly faster than my download speed (3Mbps down, 4.5Mbps up). I fiddled about a bit and it actually got worse, getting something like 1Mbps download speed and 0.13 upload speed, and the connection was flaky at best, kept dropping the signal.

I actually bought 2 kinds, as the first one was a bit of a hasty, misinformed purchase. I didn't realize that the wall socket where the router is is the only free socket, so I had to order a different version with the pass-through feature so I could plug the router back through the powerline adapter (PRO TIP!). Hooked that up via provided ethernet cable to the router, then the second unit to a wall socket in the room about 2m from my pc (provided ethernet cable was too short, luckily I had my own 10m cable lying around) and hooked that up. What a difference.

My download speeds are now as it should be, about 28.64Mbps according to Speedtest.net, and so far a very reliable connection. How well it'll perform in the long term remains to be seen, but for now, the second-best computer-based purchase I've made after upgrading to an SSD. I can't believe this is the first time I've tried these powerline adapters, or that no one I lived with before I moved knew about them either. I used to live in a staff block of the place I worked at, and shared the internet with at least 10 other computers. Naturally, the connection would be poor anyway, and connecting via WiFi made things ever worse. I have to recommend these to them now.


Anyway thanks again for the extra info, this has been one the best things I've been introduced to in a long time. ++ Rep!
 
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