The breakers shouldn't affect the powerline. I have ten plus active breakers for my house and the powerline works all through out. It matters if you have more then one main line, which is what happened when I finished my basement.

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Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

Many folks do not realize that, for the purpose of power-line devices, there really are two "circuits" in most US homes. And these devices work on lnly one. Let me explain briefly...

Most hones have 220-volt service coming in as two 110v (black) power lines, a neutral )return) and a ground. Half the circuit breakers feed off one "side" or "leg") and half feed off the other. When the house is wired they generally try to "balance" the load between the two sides. But when you use the power lines to carry a signal (power link, X-10 security, etc.) you are inserting the signal only to the "side" to which it is connected. To get to the other side it b\needs to go back out to the street and through the utility's power transformer. The transformer will generally not pass these high-frequency signals. (This is good because it means they do not go to your neighbor but bad because they also do not get to the other "side" in your house.) In some case th proximity of all the wiring allows the natural "cross-talk" or interference to cause the signal to leak to the other leg and actually function; but typically weakly and unreliably.

How to solve this? There are typically two ways: (1) rearrange the wiring in the breaker box so the circuits which need to communicate are on the same "leg" or (2) purchase a "bridging" device that will take the signal from one and resend it onto the other. Some of these devices are wired in professionally; some plug into a 220v appliance outlet (stove, dryer, etc.).

There are several bridges available for X-10 security/lighting systems (some of which also provide significant range-extending amplification). I have NOT explored these for power-link systems.

_________________
....JBick

EX475, 2 GB, LE-1640
PC1: Vista-->W7 Ultimate/32, (D-Drive RAID-5 Array)
PC2: Lenovo Laptop, Win XP Home SP3
2xLinksys WRT54G v1.1 and 2xNetGear GS105 Gbit switch

Yeah, that was one issue I was concerned about. I guess the only way to find out is to purchase one and hope it works. I'm sure I could return it if it does'nt but unfortunatly the best one I have found for the money is mail order from tiger direct. they have a DLink-301 for 154.99 and it's speed is advertised up to 200Mbps. I went to circuit city today and the best thing they had was from cisco for 199.00 and it's max speed was up to 85Mbps. If it does'nt work I may be up against figuring out how to bridge the 2 circuits or dealing with a return.

Second off, my house was built in 69 and has aluminum wiring so I wonder if that will affect the speed of powerline?

I have been researching networking solutions for a few days now and was wondering if I shouldnt just buy another draft N router, set it in a place in my living room that gets a stronger signal and run a lan cable to it from my PC and try to bridge the 2 wireless router. I have read that this is possible but have not found enough information on how to set it up. Bought wireless networking and networking for dummies and both talk about it just don't show you how to do it.

I also saw large amplifier antenna's for sale at circuit city for 39.00, they say they are for G networks but work in the 2.4 GHZ range. I was wondering if these would work with a draft N router. I thought 2.4 GHZ was one of the channels N worked off of? of course I would'nt have N performance but I don't have it as it is due to my signal interfierence.

_________________
MSS HP EX-475 2TB Storage
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PC 2 Win 7 & Fedora 14 Dual Boot
PC 3 Win 7 & Linux Mint LXDE
2 x86_64 Notebooks Win 7 & Linux Mint 10

If you are comfortable with switching a couple wires around in a breaker box that would probably be your simplest solution.

The aluminum wiring should not be a problem. I've never heard of it degrading performance.

If you add a second router just make sure you disable the DHCP capabilities in it and connect it to the other one using a "regular" port, not the WAN/Internet port. (I have done this with a pair of Linksys WRT54G routers.)

I have seen mixed results trying to use those amplifier antennas. Just when I was convinced they were junk a friend had unbelievable results with one. Depends on your circumstances I guess.

_________________
....JBick

EX475, 2 GB, LE-1640
PC1: Vista-->W7 Ultimate/32, (D-Drive RAID-5 Array)
PC2: Lenovo Laptop, Win XP Home SP3
2xLinksys WRT54G v1.1 and 2xNetGear GS105 Gbit switch

Yeah, I need to see if the 2 outlets I need to utilize are on the same bar in the main. It looks like the majority of my breakers are on one side of the bar so at least the odds are in my favor.

_________________
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PC 3 Win 7 & Linux Mint LXDE
2 x86_64 Notebooks Win 7 & Linux Mint 10

You may need to look carefully in that breaker box. Some designs bring one leg down one side (and the other down the other side) and some alternate to both sides!

_________________
....JBick

EX475, 2 GB, LE-1640
PC1: Vista-->W7 Ultimate/32, (D-Drive RAID-5 Array)
PC2: Lenovo Laptop, Win XP Home SP3
2xLinksys WRT54G v1.1 and 2xNetGear GS105 Gbit switch

Hard to tell with the breakers in. think it's time to invest in the powerline kit and keep my fingers crossed.

_________________
MSS HP EX-475 2TB Storage
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PC 3 Win 7 & Linux Mint LXDE
2 x86_64 Notebooks Win 7 & Linux Mint 10

Just came across an article on a new powerline kit by Gefen:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/12/13/ge ... /#comments

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

You'll have to pop a couple breakers out to see the pattern, but that's a pretty minor effort if you are up to doing anything in the box!

WARNING TO READERS: If you are not comfortable opening a breaker box don't do it. It's easy to get hurt in there and it is "always live -- i.e., you cannot turn the power off entirely!

_________________
....JBick

EX475, 2 GB, LE-1640
PC1: Vista-->W7 Ultimate/32, (D-Drive RAID-5 Array)
PC2: Lenovo Laptop, Win XP Home SP3
2xLinksys WRT54G v1.1 and 2xNetGear GS105 Gbit switch

Uh, it takes a lot for me to comment on anything Johnbick says....and it's only to totally agree...this is one place in tech that if you think you might know, it can kill you fast and or burn down your house.

If you really need to use the main electrical circuit in your house, and access the main panel, and you are not sure...YOU NEED A QUALIFIED LICENSED ELECTRICIAN. If you really are sure, you probably don't need to be reading this

This thread was about wireless (radio). Bluntly, it is getting dangerous...

_________________
This Space For Rent

Yeah, your right it is getting off topic of this thread. I think I'll just think about it for a while, possibly may just run cable outside my house and around, telecom cables are run outside!

_________________
MSS HP EX-475 2TB Storage
PC 1 Win 7 & Ubuntu Ultimate 10.10 and Linux Fusion tri-boot
PC 2 Win 7 & Fedora 14 Dual Boot
PC 3 Win 7 & Linux Mint LXDE
2 x86_64 Notebooks Win 7 & Linux Mint 10

Sorry if it sounded bossy...just don't want to see anybody get hurt. Christmas lights are nice, but not when it is your house burning down

You do bring up an interesting question: Are there ethernet cables intended for outdoor use? Or any reason not to use them? Anybody?

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This Space For Rent

I doubt the normal ones we buy are officially rated for outdoor use. I would want to keep it as dry as possible, under some type of overhand so not directly exposed to water and preferably not to sunlight. And I would definitely not want any splices outside. The key is to keep it away from water and keep it where it will not get damaged, bumped by a lawnmower, kicked, etc. Not sure that rubber is UV-rated so there is a possibility of deterioration in the long-term that can lead to cracking.

The big thing you want to avoid is a cracked outer covering allowing water to get in, especially if you live where there are freezes in winter months.

_________________
....JBick

EX475, 2 GB, LE-1640
PC1: Vista-->W7 Ultimate/32, (D-Drive RAID-5 Array)
PC2: Lenovo Laptop, Win XP Home SP3
2xLinksys WRT54G v1.1 and 2xNetGear GS105 Gbit switch

No worries, I understand, you don't know my degree of electrical experience. I do do a bit of electrical work, just mostly low voltage DC, I do some in home electical (my own home) but I'm not an electrician by trade.



Have not looked into this yet, it was just an idea that came to mind

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MSS HP EX-475 2TB Storage
PC 1 Win 7 & Ubuntu Ultimate 10.10 and Linux Fusion tri-boot
PC 2 Win 7 & Fedora 14 Dual Boot
PC 3 Win 7 & Linux Mint LXDE
2 x86_64 Notebooks Win 7 & Linux Mint 10

I would probably run it along side of the house much like the cable wires are run and I would probably make the cable vs. splicing it. I do live in a cold weather winter climate, my main concern would also be cold temps causing excessive resistance and possibly slowing network traffic. There is also the thought of running it in conduit.

I appreciate all the replies even though it may be getting somewhat off topic, I'm basically trying to do research before purchase, I never seem to get the results I expect so I'm trying to plan this out before dumping a bunch of money to get inferior results.
Corey!

_________________
MSS HP EX-475 2TB Storage
PC 1 Win 7 & Ubuntu Ultimate 10.10 and Linux Fusion tri-boot
PC 2 Win 7 & Fedora 14 Dual Boot
PC 3 Win 7 & Linux Mint LXDE
2 x86_64 Notebooks Win 7 & Linux Mint 10