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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?"
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...
I was initially concerned about the range of wireless in my two-story house, thought I would have a lot of problems due to all the portable phones, baby monitors, big metal appliances, etc.
I put the access point in my daughter's bedroom on the second floor, end result I can use my wireless card from the basement to the second floor, and a significant distance in the front and back yard.
I'd suggest buying a wireless card and access point from one of those electronics superstores that charge ten to fifteen points more, but have "no-hassle return policies". If the shit doesn't work in your house just take it back.
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!
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)