This will work great in an otherwise empty house with only one circuit (one circuit breaker in the electrical box)

acrobg wrote:Does this run dd-wrt?

No! It's not a wireless router.

I see it does work with Mac - thanks for the info

woot?!?!? what happened you're the same price as amazon! i thought you were supposed to be cheaper than anywhere else.... i am disappointed.... i feel like all the girl friends begging for attention might latch on to that and steal their men back from all the cool stuff you have

If these units work like an x10, they have a major drawback. And that is, they must be installed on the same electrical circuit. If not, units won't "see" each other. That's the caveat with x10 devices and probably the same with these things.

i24u wrote:Ok I'm moving into a new house in Jan. I'm in a 900sq ft single story now moving to 1500sq ft two story...

Also have about 4 x10 boxes that I currently use.

Would these work along with my x10 boxes that control my lights in the house or would I be drawing too much power?

...

I've used these along with my X10 system and they don't interfere. I have about 16 X10 boxes. Where you might run into trouble is if your electricity is wired with more than one phase. The signals (from either) won't cross phases without a special device.

Just a reminder about privacy: a signal sent on an unshielded, unbalanced line _will_ radiate. Plugging into your network may not be needed to hear your network traffic.

Can I still use this with my wireless network if there is just one room that can't get wireless? Can I plug one unit into the wireless router and a second into the computer in a different room.

I use a similar Netgear device, which I absolutely love. With it I have a relatively high speed connection from any plug in the house. The XBox 360 and the printer both run off them. I can move the printer anywhere I want (OK, I know you can now buy a wireless printer).

My question: Can I use both this and the Netgear devices? I run a cable from my router to one of the Netgear boxes plugged into the wall, which puts the signal into the house wiring system; can I do the same with this one, off the same router? While still also using the Netgear boxes? I have the Netgear HDX101 Powerline HD.

G

Actually, 85 Mbps means the amount of bandwidth, not the speed.

Networks work by breaking down information into bits of information called packets. Then those packets are shot across the line from one piece of equipment to another. The bandwidth indicates the amount of those packets that can travel across the line at the same time.

For instance, a 100kb file will move just as fast across this system as it will a system with a 1000Mbps bandwidth.

Now if you had a 100Mb file, not all of the packets could travel across the line at the same time with this 85Mbps system - you'd experience bottlenecking, or rather, some packets would have to wait to be sent and received, whereas on a system with 1000Mbps bandwidth, all of the packets could travel at the same time.

And this is where people tend to associate higher speed with the higher bandwidth. Your computer is able to put the packets together into the original file faster because more packets travel together with higher bandwidth, but the fact of the matter is no matter what the bandwidth, the packets on any bandwith pipeline are traveling at the same speed.

I just put a set of these in. The quick setup was easy and they worked perfectly. In order to use the management software I had to disable the firewall on my PC that ran the software.

Unfortunately the software appears set to manage every device it sees. I live in an apartment complex and someone else in the building has a compatible device that the software detected over the network. Since I don't know the password to this third device I could not change the group management password on my devices. I kept trying until one day the software only detected my two devices.

To change the default management password you will need the individual password for each device. This info is on each device. Write it down before you stick these behind furniture or in the back of AV cabinets. Lesson learned on my part.

The speed is listed at a max of 85 Mbps. That is small 'b' as in bits. That coverts to 10.133 mega bytes per second (MBs). People can be careless with small and big Bs. Verizon's marketing department is one such group. In my apartment I see anywhere from 6 to 8 mega bytes per second. Faster than my current DSL plan, but not as fast as the faster plans (DSL, cable, FIOS) and no where close to expectations of today's wired networks.

These do work across circuit breakers if the panel is wired a certain way. See GlowingBlueMist's post at http://www.wirelessforums.org/alt-comp-hardware/powerline-ethernet-over-powerlines-question-10634.html.

Overall I'm happy with them.

CowBear wrote:Hmmm interesting product but it seems like a wireless bridge is still the better way to go.

Wireless not always the best solution. My wife wanted an office upstairs and needed to do VoIP. This was a great solution. Works very well.

EltonNoway wrote:It's not so much the number of outlets that you have... as much as having the two outlets you intend to use on the same house power circuit.

In other words... if you plug one unit at your router or computer room... and the other unit in your garage or home office, and the two locations are on a "different" circuit breakers,... these may not work. Read the reviews on Amazon.

Don't know if the difference in breakers would be a roadblock. I have the Netgear branded powerline networking equipment in my house presently - one in an upstairs room where my internet signal enters the house and two downstairs in different rooms. I'm sure that each one is on a different breaker, and I haven't had any issues.

I just wish there was a way to use powerline networking equipment with a UPS - unfortunately, all of the UPS equipment that I know of also includes surge protection which renders all powerline networking equipment (at least all the equipment I've seen or researched) effectively useless.

mattstl wrote:These are bad... very bad. All BPL (Broadband Power Line) networking devices use a very large amount of RF/Radio spectrum (constantly, whether data is passing or not) to pass the data for the network....

What does this do? Pollute the airwaves of people that need the frequencies from about 2-30MHz... Why do I care? Well it just happens that people like Red Cross, Marine HF, Shortwave radio, Amateur Radion, and other entities that need these frequencies during a disaster will be potentially impacted/interfered with by these devices.

Cool idea, just crappy implementation. Stick to the wireless stuff, at least it is FCC tested and doesn't waste.

Actually most of these issues have been dealt with now. In the early versions of powerline networking this was an issue, but the newest implementations do not transmit in those frequencies, preventing them from broadcasting in those. Now, long distance powerline networking over high voltage transmission lines may be a different story, especially when the signal attempts to pass through a transformer, but in home powerline networking such as this is perfectly fine.

Expert timing, Woot! I was just shopping for these yesterday online. I need to replace my mother's finicky wireless network, but am apprehensive of drilling holes in the walls to run cable. These run about $130-150 elsewhere. Hopefully they'll do the trick.

Does anyone know if this is compatible with SlingLink? They look like they do the exact same thing & I'm wondering if I can add to my existing SlingLink setup.

I am guessing this works with Windows 7?

Or is this one of those "this one goes to 11" kind of things?

Nice reference!

Does any one know how to order 2 for your self at one address and 2 as a gift for another address. Woot keeps telling me I have already purchased this. I even registered as a new peron but my billing address has not changed sot I AGAIN get you have already purchased this. I KNOW!!!. I want another 2.

I have used two brands of in-house power line networking units like these... _No_ joy. Yes, they work, but the speed listed is the speed you are guaranteed never to exceed; i.e. you will never reach that throughput. Subject to RF interference if certain appliances kick in. I am a big Woot fan (I just received yesterday my new 26" Toshiba hidef LCD TV I bought from Woot for $100 less than Best Buy), but.. that being said, for the cost of this woot, you'd be far better off spending the same money and going 802.11g wireless. Just my opinion.

mattstl wrote:These are bad... very bad. All BPL (Broadband Power Line) networking devices use a very large amount of RF/Radio spectrum (constantly, whether data is passing or not) to pass the data for the network....

What does this do? Pollute the airwaves of people that need the frequencies from about 2-30MHz... Why do I care? Well it just happens that people like Red Cross, Marine HF, Shortwave radio, Amateur Radion, and other entities that need these frequencies during a disaster will be potentially impacted/interfered with by these devices.

Cool idea, just crappy implementation. Stick to the wireless stuff, at least it is FCC tested and doesn't waste.

Remember a couple years ago when the power companies all wanted to get in on the home broadband thing and started testing Broadband over Power Line? BPL all but died due to the FCC and Amatuer radio crying foul on it. And they were right. BPL is a radio users nightmare, and though these things are transmitting a much weaker signal, you may still see some interferrence issues either caused by them or recieved by them from another noisy device (like a microwave, or the neighbor's ham radio set).

Cool idea, and I almost talked myself into buying a couple sets, but I'd rather just buy some cable and wire up everything with Cat6. Then when I sell my house, the buyers will pay more cause it's already wired (I hope). That and the cable is generally cheaper, doesn't use more electricity so my utility bill won't be effected, and I won't have to worry about replacing it in a few years when it finally dies (since wires tend to last longer than devices). It may take more time and a bit more hassle to pull the wires through the house, but it'll be cleaner and better/faster in the long run. That and my house isn't very large to begin with, so wiring it up is easy for me. And I won't have to buy more UPS's or solar panels to cover things during power outages (I do use a bit of solar power, yes really I do. Makes it easy to watch TV and have bathroom lights when the power company line fails).

Users Guide:
http://downloads.linksysbycisco.com/downloads/PLTE200_PLTS200_PLTK300_V10_UG_NC-WEB,0.pdf

[quote postid="3677237" user="jeffiekins"]The description says "Up to 85 Mbps" -- almost as fast as a wired Ethernet, and many times as fast as the fastest Internet connections.

You will see actual throughput between 8-15Mbs, which is similar to wireless without the latency. It can do standard definition, but not HD. They work in 99% of outlets.

This thing REQUIRES a Windows machine for configuration? What happened to configuration via a browser that the other Linksys products I've had used?

JAFU wrote:If these units work like an x10, they have a major drawback. And that is, they must be installed on the same electrical circuit. If not, units won't "see" each other. That's the caveat with x10 devices and probably the same with these things.

You are right about X10, but this is not X10. They actually can get better performance crossing over circuits since noise doesnt crossover with it.

I wonder if it works with Windows 7?
Anyone?

Please check your facts before you post. The HAM radio operators support the technology since their frequencies are notched out. There are no issues with in home or BPL since they are essentially using the same technology.

redstang wrote:Ok, pretty sure I'm in for one, but if you get two, can you use the other two in two more places in the house? Basically, does it matter which one of these, the 1 port or the 4 port, is connected directly to your router?

Nope, it doesn't matter, either adapter will distribute or receive the internet signal. Though if the 4-port is plugged into the router the additional ports would not be useful for anything.

Typically the 4-port would be on the destination side since you're distributing the internet access from your router to somewhere else.

For example, if your router is in the office and your 'media room' has electronics capable of using an ethernet internet connection...as do many gaming consoles, BluRay players, media players (WD TV, etc.), but no internet access. Position the 4-port one in the media room and voila, all of them now have internet access without an additional switch and its ugly power cord.

Use of these devices is very simple...plug one into the router, and the internets are in all over your house in un-surge-protected outlets.

To woot is the answer.

The community was very helpful thanks for all the links etc. I slept on it and decided that my use (simply connecting my blu-ray and DirecTV) didn't really need the speed of wired and that these would provide a little more speed than wireless (for about the same cost or less depending on what i went with.)

klaatu1721 wrote:Does anyone know if this is compatible with SlingLink? They look like they do the exact same thing & I'm wondering if I can add to my existing SlingLink setup.

OK, I think I have the answer. Both the Linksys and SlingLink use the "HomePlug 1.0 with Turbo" standard. According to Wikipedia, this is a proprietary specification by Intellon which allows up to 85 Mbit/s rates, as opposed to 14 Mbit/s specified by the "HomePlug 1.0" standard. As long as they are both using the same standard, then they should be interoperable.

can this be hooked up to a laptop computer?

I use these at home, as well as at work. At home I have a 2-story kids clubhouse that doesn't get good wireless reception. But, with these, the bandwidth is awesome.
So, I also bought a pair for work. My office is a separate building from my warehouse. But, they are connected to the same transformer. My NAS drive is stuffed in a corner of the warehouse, and is simply wired from a 120V outlet...no other wires, no sporadic wireless signal, and is encrypted....Perfect solution for my application.

You guys talked me into buying this. $120 at Amazon.

equazcion wrote:I can't see any reason anyone should ever want to use them, which is why I never have. I'm a techie and can safely say that when there's a standard available that everyone uses, has the same features and is the same price, versus an obscure technology that relatively few people use, it's a much safer bet to go with the standard. Not only is there a much better chance it'll work reliably, but if it ever needs servicing, you'll have about a million times more choices for who can help you.

I am an IT solution provider and this is just not true. I have used this solution for several clients across many platforms, in houses up to 6K sq ft. TiVo will work through it as will Voip and there are have no problems streaming from the web. You can connect more than two of these in the home as well, the one caveat being is that you should use the same manufacturer for additional units. "N" is not near what it's touted to be in speed, is way overpriced, doesn't go through heavy construct better and will not cover the spectrum this solution can. Wired speed is definitively more consistent than wireless. Not to mention the fact that your "G" adapted device will go no faster with an "N" router. You must have an "N" adapter as well. All network speed is theoretical folks, your mileage may vary. Resistance and network chatter are your nemesis.

feralparakeet wrote:Apart from interference issues with cordless telephones that run on the 5.8GHz frequency, what exactly is the benefit of this kind of setup versus a standard wireless router?

Is there some sort of distinct advantage, or is this for networking novices?

I would not say it's for novices. If you have lots of devices on your network (I have one server, three laptops, two Xboxes, three DVRs, a Wii, two Rokus [one netflix, the other a soundbrige], two printers, and an odd iTouch here and there) the airwaves get a bit crowded. These systems work well when you don't want to configure another device to the wireless network, especially when the device isnt' moving, and when you don't want to run cable.

Come on woot! Its Christmas time! How about something I can give as a present??

soundxli wrote:These powerline network kits give you an ethernet connection anywhere in your house. You can do the same thing by running an ethernet cable through the whole house where you want the connection, but this setup eliminates the ethernet cable and uses the house wiring to put the connection where you want it (and where there's an outlet). And yes I did have an ethernet cable running through my house along the floor because my wireless router couldn't broadcast a signal to the other side of the house where I spent most of my time.

So I bought some used Slinglink SL100s, hooked one up near my DSL router, hooked another one where I usually sit, then I hooked in the wireless router to the SL100 and now I have the wireless bridge where I need it. I also have both of them hooked into my UPS on the non-battery side. And yes I do lose signal when the power goes off but that's ok. I fogot to mention that I even have an old RadioShack Universal Broadband Link hooked up to my Tek Phaser printer in another room that can talk to the SL100 network. I have AT&T DSL Elite and just did a speedtest with speakeasy. I'm getting Last Result: Download Speed: 2943 kbps (367.9 KB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 645 kbps (80.6 KB/sec transfer rate) with my SL100 and an old second generation Snow Airport router. I hope this helps explain the utility of these devices.

Not so much.

bdoubleu921 wrote:Come on woot! Its Christmas time! How about something I can give as a present??

Where are you seeing this for the same price on Amazon? The cheapest I see is $117.

Conceptually a good idea but a non-player for the real world. Wireless already works great, mostly, and when there is a blockage a bridge will overcome the problem. In the modern home, who doesen't have a micro-wave, cell phone charger, cordless phone, or surge protectors......(or other such devices).

A non-player, unfortunately. If they worked that well we'd already know it......and they would already popular STM. Instead, they're being cleared on Woot.com

I'll stick with my excellent wireless and bridge it if I have to.

Regards to all.

mattstl wrote:These are bad... very bad. All BPL (Broadband Power Line) networking devices use a very large amount of RF/Radio spectrum (constantly, whether data is passing or not) to pass the data for the network....

What does this do? Pollute the airwaves of people that need the frequencies from about 2-30MHz... Why do I care? Well it just happens that people like Red Cross, Marine HF, Shortwave radio, Amateur Radion, and other entities that need these frequencies during a disaster will be potentially impacted/interfered with by these devices.

Cool idea, just crappy implementation. Stick to the wireless stuff, at least it is FCC tested and doesn't waste.

Could not agree more - BPL is bad technology and should be avoided.