How to network your home if only Wi-Fi APs do not work well

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We had a problem with using Wi-Fi only to network our house using standard APs and repeaters. The solution was fairly simple: We used broadband over powerline networking (using Billion’s BiPAC products).

It did not require putting in Cat5 cabling, and because the units also create a hotspot we easily covered the house with Wi-Fi.

The setup was also easy – basically plug and play. Well worth investigating.
 
Been wondering about these. Is there a heavy penalty on speed?
 
These things are great if you are trying to extend a wireless network that is mainly used for internet and light copying. If you going to be network intensive, they don't push the greatest output.

Need to also watch out for where phases switch, as most of these don't work over multiple phases.
 
I have been using these - staying in an old house and thick walls are not a problem - getting 300MB sync speed between the adapters
 
I've been trying to get WiFi working in my house for years. I had it working initially with a Trendnet AP and various extenders to cover my entire house. Over time I started having issues when replacing equipment (lightning strikes etc.) and trying to sync the equipment again. The signal also became weaker and eventually I was struggling to just connect to my AP (even when I'm in the same room :wtf:).

Fed up with WiFi, I decided to try out the Trendnet Powerline Adapter Kit. I connected my study with the lounge so that I can stream HD content to the TV and it worked like a dream. I decided to go out and buy another set so that I could connect my kids' rooms as well (so they have internet access on their PC's) but it wouldn't work. I then found out that these adapters require to be on the same electrical circuit in the house (or something like that - maybe somebody else can clarify that). Now I'm back to square one :cry:

I decided to eventually just wire the whole house and got somebody in to give me a quote. This guy told me about a product that he swears by - EnGenius EAP300 Ceiling AP, 300Mbps, 802.11 b - and that I should give it a trial run. If I'm not happy, he'll put wired network points in my house. Anybody here have any experience with this unit?
 
JohanG said:
I've been trying to get WiFi working in my house for years. I had it working initially with a Trendnet AP and various extenders to cover my entire house. Over time I started having issues when replacing equipment (lightning strikes etc.) and trying to sync the equipment again. The signal also became weaker and eventually I was struggling to just connect to my AP (even when I'm in the same room :wtf:).

Fed up with WiFi, I decided to try out the Trendnet Powerline Adapter Kit. I connected my study with the lounge so that I can stream HD content to the TV and it worked like a dream. I decided to go out and buy another set so that I could connect my kids' rooms as well (so they have internet access on their PC's) but it wouldn't work. I then found out that these adapters require to be on the same electrical circuit in the house (or something like that - maybe somebody else can clarify that). Now I'm back to square one :cry:

I decided to eventually just wire the whole house and got somebody in to give me a quote. This guy told me about a product that he swears by - EnGenius EAP300 Ceiling AP, 300Mbps, 802.11 b - and that I should give it a trial run. If I'm not happy, he'll put wired network points in my house. Anybody here have any experience with this unit?
Click to expand...

I rate a way to bypass the issue with your ethernet-over-power install 3 plug points at the DB board - 1 to each phase,plug in 3 of the bridges and 1 4-5 port hub to connect them. I haven't tested this yet but I can't see why it wouldn't work since you'd be bridging the 3 phases for networking

As for the Engenius units,i've seen them at one client site,quite nifty units,not quite as good as the Ubiquiti UniFi for seamless network transitions but it does have a central management tool which is useful
 
PsyWulf said:
I rate a way to bypass the issue with your ethernet-over-power install 3 plug points at the DB board - 1 to each phase,plug in 3 of the bridges and 1 4-5 port hub to connect them. I haven't tested this yet but I can't see why it wouldn't work since you'd be bridging the 3 phases for networking
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick response. I think I understand what you are trying to tell me with ethernet-over-power, but it sound way too complicated and a bit of a mission to do. I just want an easy and not too expensive working solution. Although the EnGenius is not cheap, it does provide me with a very simple solution, and could potentially end up working out cheaper and easier with all the devices I need to connect in my house - 2 x Apple TV, Xbox, PS3, Wii, Smart TV, multiple PC's, phones, etc.

PsyWulf said:
As for the Engenius units,i've seen them at one client site,quite nifty units,not quite as good as the Ubiquiti UniFi for seamless network transitions but it does have a central management tool which is useful
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by seamless network transitions or if it's applicable to my scenario, but I'll ask them about it, thanks.
 
JohanG said:
Thanks for the quick response. I think I understand what you are trying to tell me with ethernet-over-power, but it sound way too complicated and a bit of a mission to do. I just want an easy and not too expensive working solution. Although the EnGenius is not cheap, it does provide me with a very simple solution, and could potentially end up working out cheaper and easier with all the devices I need to connect in my house - 2 x Apple TV, Xbox, PS3, Wii, Smart TV, multiple PC's, phones, etc.
Click to expand...

The more Wireless devices connected to a single AP the more saturated the link and the lower the speed per device available. And diagnosing Wifi issues can be a much bigger task than any cabled solution. But since they offered it at no risk basically give it a go with Wifi and see :)

In order of personal preference -> Cabled -> Eth-over-power -> Wifi

Not sure what you mean by seamless network transitions or if it's applicable to my scenario, but I'll ask them about it, thanks.
Click to expand...

Leaving one AP and entering another AP's zone you might have a second or 2 of connection dropping and reconnecting to the new AP
 
Yup,
Those billion home plugs are sweet.
Your whole house will have to be on the same DB tho, (well at least the part you going to use the home plug)

There are other brands now that offer the same solution, D-Link, Huawei, Netgear.
 
Keegan said:
Yup,
Those billion home plugs are sweet.
Your whole house will have to be on the same DB tho, (well at least the part you going to use the home plug)

There are other brands now that offer the same solution, D-Link, Huawei, Netgear.
Click to expand...

There is 2 Caveats,1 as you mentioned (kinda) needs to be same phase or you need to bridge the phases as I suggested

2nd one is that there are 2 standards for Eth-over-power,HomePlug and Powerline
Any brand device using the same standard is compatible (I got tenda and TPLink mixed in my house) but not with the other standard
 
Keegan said:
Yup,
Those billion home plugs are sweet.
Your whole house will have to be on the same DB tho, (well at least the part you going to use the home plug)

There are other brands now that offer the same solution, D-Link, Huawei, Netgear.
Click to expand...

There is 2 Caveats,1 as you mentioned (kinda) needs to be same phase or you need to bridge the phases as I suggested

2nd one is that there are 2 standards for Eth-over-power,HomePlug and Powerline
Any brand device using the same standard is compatible (I got tenda and TPLink mixed in my house) but not with the other standard
 
PsyWulf said:
There is 2 Caveats,1 as you mentioned (kinda) needs to be same phase or you need to bridge the phases as I suggested

2nd one is that there are 2 standards for Eth-over-power,HomePlug and Powerline
Any brand device using the same standard is compatible (I got tenda and TPLink mixed in my house) but not with the other standard
Click to expand...

Aww I see, didn't know different brands could be compatible, let alone not knowing there was Tenda and TP-link as well.

Thanks.
 
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