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Non-Invasive Networking - HomePNA vs. HomePlug?
zonker asks: "I live in a relatively new, moderately sized home that doesn't have conduit in the walls, nor does it have extra wires for networking. I am investigating getting a broadband connection, but first I have to decide how I will connect the network for the 6 computers in the house. As per the owners, I am not allowed to drill holes in the walls, and as per my girlfriend, I am not allowed to run Cat5 through the halls, so I am looking at my alternatives: wireless, HomePNA, and HomePlug. I'm afraid the house is a little too big for wireless without getting expensive, so it looks like either phonewire, or electric-wire. I've done some initial googling for people's opinions of these products and my quick findings where that magazine and website reviews seem to be favorable of some of them, while personal accounts seem to vary wildly. What solutions have worked for you? Are these things ready for primetime? Or should I suck it up and buy a few WAP's to extend the radius of a wireless network?"
Wireless has a range of 100 meters, and if you place the access point in the middle of the house, the range between the farthest computers is 200 meters... It's impossible that your house is more than 200 meters accross unless it cost you several million dollars.
Regards, Guspaz.
Let me get this straight? She says that you can't run Cat5 along the hall baseboards?
Dump her and buy yourself a spool. You'll end up better off in the end.
In situations like this, the best solution is the bitchy-girlfriend-less network, rather than the wireless network.
Hey Taco! Looks like you're using the "infinite monkeys and typewriters" scheme to generate Ask Slashdots again...
Drill some holes. Who cares what the agreement says; a little Cat5 goes a long way! It isn't that hard to patch holes! Hire a general contractor with a clue, and you would be amazed what they can do in a day. Just think about it in a way to make the thing flexible. If you have nice coverplates that match everything else, the owner will never notice the improvement you have made.
Plan the infrastructure so you can put a few WAP's in places that would improve the overall experience, and deal with contingencies. You don't have to put in all the WAP's now... maybe one in the living room, one in the bedroom.
If it is a place you are going to stay for a few years, you will outgrow what any of the 1Mb links will offer. Save yourself the hassle and do it right the first time!
has to be the best answer. For a medium sized home, range should not be an issue, and many 802.11b basestations come with a router incorperated so that the broadband connection should be smooth. Many will say 11mbit isn't good enough, but for the requirements, and relatively low cost, Wi-Fi is the way to go
Yawn.
I recommend going wireless. Not only is it easy, it's Ethernet, and your OS likes that. You'll also like the little access point that also doubles as a firewall. Plus, the roaming with the laptop is sweet.
If you're worried about bandwidth, get an access point/router with two antennas. That will allow more devices to connect with greater bandwidth.
There's nothing better than getting 11Mbps with zero wire hassle.
I've had nothing but trouble with the PhoneLine networking. It would go in and out sporadically without any good reason. I can say though that it is about the only thing you can fix by Singing.... Just picked up a phone on the line they were on and started to sing abit and BAM, the conection was present again. It would of course go out again in like 10 minutes, so we just replaced all the phone wiring in the house with Cat5 using the 2 free pairs. And what is with this house that you can't use Wireless? are all the walls lined with metal or something? And on the note of PhoneLine, how good is the phone wiring in the house? PowerLine, Linksys says it's shit can do 12-14mbps, but I've never really heard of anyone using powerline networking for anything other then Home Automation. Also if you are using DSL I think (NOT SURE) that you can just forget phoneline, they I belive will interfere.
(Score:0, Interesting)
I use HomePNA for the network I have in my house. It works great, but I have had a few problems with it. The major one is that at 8:30 every night until 1:00 am, the phone company aparently sends out signals on the same band as the HomePNA signals. The connection instantly gets periods of 100% packet loss and very freuently cuts out. Be wary of that, its extremely annoying. If you want my opinion, HomePNA and HomePlug just plain suck. Go for wireless if you can't run Cat5, its your best bet.
alternately, if your house is carpeted, it is very easy to put cable under carpet, and is unnoticable if put in the right spots (i.e. following the edges of walls). just dont place the cable straight across rooms, otherwise you can feel the cable when you walk on it.
if the carpet is not an option, you might want to check out the raceways someone suggested. personally, i dont think these look all that good, and they would be too expensive for me, but its an option.
also, check into painting your cables, and running them along non-noticable places. if you match the color right, you can eaisly place cable along the little thing of wood that sticks out that seperates the room from the trim below the ceiling. that is, if you have that to begin with; some people do, some dont. if you run cables along walls, though, make sure to match colors just right, attach them tightly, follow corners and unnoticable places, and make sure there is no slack. otherwise, it looks kinda shoddy.
i wouldnt suggest using the data-over-power or data-over-phone routes, personally. ive heard only mixed reviews about these. try them if youd like, though.
your last option is wireless, which is nice in the fact that you can take it with you when you move. too slow of data rates for me, but its damned convinent. a hassle to set it up, watching out for interference and everything, though.
the option id favor the most would be convincing the father in law to let you run cables through the walls. use dual faceplates, make them look nice, and cover all the costs yourself. i dont see how this would decrease the value of the home, and might even raise is slightly. if i think of anything else, though, ill post it.
as to all the "this topic is boring and i dont want to help out" people, why do you even take the time to post and bitch about it? just dont read the discussion. i dont bitch that some TV station is playing a boring show, i just change the channel. same concept.
Run it down the furnace ducts. A friend of mine has done that to the last 3 houses where he's lived. Just make sure to use plenum-rated Cat-5 and route it out of the ducts at an unobtrusive location several feet from the furnace's heating element.
Pry an opening in a duct in the furnace room, route the cables out of it to your hub, cover the hole temporarily with a strip of duct tape. When you move out, just yank the cables out of the duct and cover the hole with another piece of duct tape. The owner will never know.
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I tried to find some info on this, but no success.
Has anyone tried running Ethernet over conductive traces painted on a wall? I know it wouldn't be optimal, as the capacitance due to the twisted pairs would be difficult to match. But for a few dozen feet, perhaps it would work. I imagine the paint would be more resistive than copper wire, and of course more susceptible to interference (unshielded, unless six layers of conductive and regular paint seems like a good idea).
A person could do this in two ways. One requires a lot of conductive pens and a steady hand. The other requires a can of conductive paint and a high-density foam roller with four ridges. After the wires are carefully run along the wall or ceiling, a touchup roller with matched interior paint would conceal the traces. Connections could be made with a copper tab that you can solder a wire to, would be superglued to the wall and the conductive paint brushed on and around it to make the trace connection.
This "solution" repulses me since it goes against every instinct of proper design and following the Ethernet cabling standard. But...hey, if you can't generate enough trust with your soon-to-be relatives to let you run REAL wires, then you have to deal. Honestly, if running WIRES (a valuable improvement, come on!) was such a problem with either my girlfriend or landlord, I'd seriously start to wonder what other problems might be present in both relationships.
...
1. Break up with GF and run the wires down the hall. Where are your priorities man.
... err ... your landlords house.
2. You want to network a house that you don't own? What a waste of money. Why don't you buy a house? Believe me the amount of money you pay in rent is about the same as owning plus that money you pay is equity you have later in life.
3. As already mentioned go wireless. No wires, no holes and it keeps the girlfriend happy. A little more money but it will get the internet to the 6 computers in your