[slackline]

Just been avoiding work again by reading about HomePlug.

Sounds like a great idea and a very simple and easy way to get a network access pint in every room.  Far more practical than ripping holes in my floor to run cables to get my PS3 on a wired connection for streaming video.

Anyone here tried this out yet?  Pros/Cons and performance are of interest, as well as recommendations of which to get.  At a minimum I'd be looking at 200Mbps ones, although I think perhaps 1000Mbps to future proof for HD might be a good idea.

[dave]

I think these things rely on all the points you want to connect being on the same ringmain, which isn't always the case. I know our kitchen is on a different one to the rest of the gaff. Worth checking out before you spend any dollar.

[slackline]

As long as the ring mains are connected to the same fuse/consumer box it shouldn't be a problem (4th FAQ in the AVForums).

Didn't look like your crib was imported from the US   

[Tris]

Yeah - I have Gigabit Belkin ones and stream 1080p movies flawlessly from my storage.

Great bits of kit... just plug them in and away you go. Pisses all over wireless 

Mine are on different circuits (one on downstairs sockets, one on upstairs sockets). They don't work if they are plugged into 4 way sockets etc, but straight into the socket on the wall is fine, they have a light to tell you if it's at gigabit or not...

[nik at work]

We stayed in a gite which had one of these and it was shit, it never worked very well at all, internet was really slow (if it worked at all). Also aren't they quite expensive? Especially when compared to the fuck all cost of network cable. Also network cable is pretty low profile so can pretty easily be hidden unless you live in some minimalist white cube, in which case massive HomePlugs will also look shit.

[Tris]

Just a word of warning, they never get anyway near what they promise/state in the spec. 200Mbs ones run at about 85Mbs and 1000Mbs run at about 300-400Mbs (in my experience).

[slackline]

We stayed in a gite which had one of these and it was shit, it never worked very well at all, internet was really slow (if it worked at all). Also aren't they quite expensive? Especially when compared to the fuck all cost of network cable. Also network cable is pretty low profile so can pretty easily be hidden unless you live in some minimalist white cube, in which case massive HomePlugs will also look shit.

Was that down to the HomePlug or the shit net connection coming into the house (i.e. if you plugged straight into the modem was the internet faster/more stable)?

I can't be arsed drilling holes in the floor of my house to run a cable downstairs and prying open clading around what I presume are some heating pipes.  Plenty of hidden away sockets in my tip of a house (any pretensions of living in a tidy house were lost years ago, don't even have kids, my wife is just rather messy!).

Yeah - I have Gigabit Belkin ones and stream 1080p movies flawlessly from my storage.

Great bits of kit... just plug them in and away you go. Pisses all over wireless 

Just clocked those at the same price on play.com, do you just get the one plug or are there two in a pack?  Not very clear on Play or Dab.  Do you know of any other 1000Mbps that include plug-throughs (vaguely handy not to loose sockets).

Just a word of warning, they never get anyway near what they promise/state in the spec. 200Mbs ones run at about 85Mbs and 1000Mbs run at about 300-400Mbs (in my experience).

Kind of like wireless then!

[dave]

As long as the ring mains are connected to the same fuse/consumer box it shouldn't be a problem (4th FAQ in the AVForums).

Didn't look like your crib was imported from the US   

at one point we were given some baby monitors that plugged in and worked in a similar way - they didn't work in our gaff.

[Paul B]

did Dense do your wiring?

[dave]

Dunno, I've never asked.

[nik at work]

It was the plug things not the internet connection, rubbish.
Do you really need to drill holes and such like? You can have long runs of network cable can't you? Surely a bit of creative routing under the edges of carpets/under skirting board should work? And will cost fuck all. And if your house is a shit heap what does it matter if there's an extra wire or two floating about? (I mean that non-offensively, for what it's worth 95% of my house is a super shitty shit heap)

Honestly the plug things were shit, they looked shit and they were shit (in my experience)

[Tris]

Just clocked those at the same price on play.com, do you just get the one plug or are there two in a pack?  Not very clear on Play or Dab.  Do you know of any other 1000Mbps that include plug-throughs (vaguely handy not to loose sockets).

I bought mine from Scan. I think so long as you get the kit, you get 2 units?. I bought this kit so I could pick them up in person as I was passing through from Brownstones.

I didn't research plug-throughs as I didn't need them (I just stuck the 4 way onto the other 4 way and freed up the spare socket that way, not ideal I know )

[slackline]

It was the plug things not the internet connection, rubbish.
Do you really need to drill holes and such like? You can have long runs of network cable can't you? Surely a bit of creative routing under the edges of carpets/under skirting board should work? And will cost fuck all. And if your house is a shit heap what does it matter if there's an extra wire or two floating about? (I mean that non-offensively, for what it's worth 95% of my house is a super shitty shit heap)

Its certainly possible, but for me its too much hassle/ball-ache to either go through the floor from the study and run the cable in the box that houses the heating pipes for the radiator that come down the corner of the living room, which is underneath the study, or go from the study, out across the landing (under carpet), down the stairs, and all the way round the living room so that the cable lies flat under the edge of the carpet/skirting board.  Plus if I were to move I'd have to do it again when these could (potentially) be taken with me.

Honestly the plug things were shit, they looked shit and they were shit (in my experience)

Any recollection of what brand so I know what to avoid?

I bought mine from Scan. I think so long as you get the kit, you get 2 units?. I bought this kit so I could pick them up in person as I was passing through from Brownstones.

I didn't research plug-throughs as I didn't need them (I just stuck the 4 way onto the other 4 way and freed up the spare socket that way, not ideal I know )

Most of my sockets are double, so plug throughs wouldn't be essential.  Why'd you get plugs with American style pins, was your house wired by Americans too? 

[Tris]

Honestly the plug things were shit, they looked shit and they were shit (in my experience)

Any recollection of what brand so I know what to avoid?

Don't buy the 85Mbs ones (any brand) and make sure your wiring is decent if you plan to stream full HD or other high bandwidth media on the 200Mbs ones. These Linksys (Cisco) 200Mbs ones get good reviews. I have used the Netgear 200mbs ones, they are ok too.

Most of my sockets are double, so plug throughs wouldn't be essential.  Why'd you get plugs with American style pins, was your house wired by Americans too? 

All manufacturers seem to do that now, you get these crap adaptor things that sit over the US plugs. It's so they only have to make one model to cover the global market...

[nik at work]

They were NetGear, big horrible looking things.

You can be arsed to build your PC from components to save a few quid but ten minutes shoving cable under carpet is to much hassle to save a hunner? There is indeed nowt as queer as folk...

[slackline]

House is only twelve years old, so in theory the wiring should be ok.

Will check out Linksys options, been big fans of their WRT54g routers for years and also use their NAS NSLU2 unit.

Great to have a new geek project to work on, now I wonder if the SheevaPlug (now rebranded to OpenPlug) will fit in nicely with such a system.

They were NetGear, big horrible looking things.

Will avoid them then, cheers.

You can be arsed to build your PC from components to save a few quid but ten minutes shoving cable under carpet is to much hassle to save a hunner? There is indeed nowt as queer as folk...

I'm good at geek, but crap at DIY.

And Bubba's new comp is a better spec than mine for less than I paid for my components, so no real saving there (despite a few months time difference, I could probably have got a better spec buying a pre-built for less money, just wanted to build my own).

[Jim]

just get some LAN cable, it may take a bit of time but you shouldn't need to drill holes etc..., run it under carpets and along the top of skirting boards.
Do the job right instead of paying extra money for something that may not work

[slackline]

So two schools of thought here, if I went for Cat5e cabling I'd have to get an additional switch as I've very limited network points on my routers (eight total, as I've two bridged wireless routers).  Possibly two switches too as I've got a PS3 and a Wii to connect downstairs.

So anyone recommending cabling got any suggestions on switches that would come in cheaper than the HomePlug option?  I'm a fan of Linksys products as the two routers I've had have been rock-solid for years now, they have an eight port switch (SPS208G) with eight ports that which clocks in at around £140.

Its encouraging that Tris who's actually purchased and installed a HomePlug setup himself was successful and rates them.  It's possible the Gite you stayed at Nik may have had things poorly setup/installed (could be shitty wiring in the house, who knows  ).

I do like the idea of using the wiring that already exists in the house and is tucked away nice and tidely in the walls, less total cabling in the house.  I think I'll spend some time reading more in the AVForums too.

Cheers for the input peeps.

[Falling Down]

I've got three homeplugs around our house.  They worked out of the box with little no configuration required and have continued without problems for the last couple of years. 

[Jim]

how much stuff have you got to plug into the router?
i would still go with lan cable as you can get problems due to different rooms being on different ring mains etc...

[nik at work]

To be fair the gite was in France so was all sockets hanging out of walls and such like, never very reassuring...

I'm not sure I understand why you need a switch (or two) for the cabled option and not for the Homeplug? You still need to connect the homeplug to a network point don't you? Or am I missing something?? If you do need to get a switch or suchlike then I guess the cost saving will disappear so go for the plugs if you fancy them? I think maybe I'm missing something as eight network points seem like quite a lot unless you're planning a "box in every room" set-up for a pretty large house without using any wireless??
(saying that I do have a network with a 24 port switch...)

[slackline]

how much stuff have you got to plug into the router?

Desktop, network printer, NAS, and a bridge to my second router which sits in the loft near the back of the house to improve signal, a second computer, and would then need a free port for either linking HomePlug into or running a cable downstairs.

At some point the second computer (which currently gets used periodically and I'll unplug the printer to connect it) will be retired/passed on, and I'm considering move the NAS into the loft, but that still leaves desktop, bridge to second wireless router, printer and one spare socket to either HomePlug or run cable downstairs from.  So I guess its possible if I only want to have extra access in the living room, run a cable down to a switch there, but if I wanted to say stream to laptops connected to TV's in either of the bedrooms that would require two more cables either coming through the ceiling from the loft, or a second switch in the study to run three cables out of there, one downstairs, and one to each bedroom.

i would still go with lan cable as you can get problems due to different rooms being on different ring mains etc...

Not an issue, see first couple of posts, its mentioned as item four in the AVForums FAQ I linked that as long as all ring mains are on the same fusebox it'll be fine.

I've got three homeplugs around our house.  They worked out of the box with little no configuration required and have continued without problems for the last couple of years. 

Another success story which is encouraging.

[Jim]

i was also thinking the same as nik

[nik at work]

Not an issue, see first couple of posts, its mentioned as item four in the AVForums FAQ I linked that as long as all ring mains are on the same fusebox it'll be fine.

Don't assume that, it does depend how that fusebox/consumer unit is wired up. It may well be fine (and probably will be) but...

[Falling Down]

Our house is old, a funny shape and has really thick 18 inch walls so wireless coverage is poor.  I wanted to have two wireless nodes and also a direct LAN connection for the X-Box for gaming.

For the 'In' I just plugged a short LAN cable from the router into the home plug upstairs.  Downstairs I have a homeplug in the lounge that has LAN cable running into an Airport that provides wireless coverage downstairs and has three LAN slots for a NAS drive, the X-Box and a mac-mini under the TV.