Ethernet over Power

It's power over ethernet :D

To the point though, never used it personally since it's not really necessary? Unless you don't have enough power plugs in your home. Generally PoE hardware is more expensive.

It's used more in big network setups, with hundreds of users where they will have PoE switches to power all their phones etc. For home use I don't really see the point.


PS. Ethernet over power, on the other hand, sounds quite cool. Then we could pay Eskom for our internet :p
 
I'm currently using Western Digital's Livewire for this. Works quite nice and I see there's a newer version out. You don't get the full advertised speeds though, think mine is like 8Mbps or something, advertised as up to 200Mbps. Depends on your wiring and other electrical stuff. Also, if you want to use it, it needs it's own power plug, can't use a multiplug or something similiar.
 
to0kenZA said:
Oh jeez, I didn't even realize! I feel like a chop now.

On topic, this is pretty cool man. So I take it you plug this hardware into a wall plug and that device has an ethernet port?
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That is the idea :) im too lazy to run cabling, but then again might be better solution at the end of the day.


Nemesis said:
I'm currently using Western Digital's Livewire for this. Works quite nice and I see there's a newer version out. You don't get the full advertised speeds though, think mine is like 8Mbps or something, advertised as up to 200Mbps. Depends on your wiring and other electrical stuff. Also, if you want to use it, it needs it's own power plug, can't use a multiplug or something similiar.
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I quickly did a search, it seems they are going for around R1000. Not THAT expensive, since it has 4 ports where the earlier one I posted has only 1 port. But is it worth getting this above running a dedicated Network cable.

http://www.mydigitallife.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1059285:review-wd-livewire-powerline-av-network-kit&catid=56:devices-a-gadgets&Itemid=134
 
I remember experimenting with that at my old work when it was still very new. It worked, but the speeds were super slow (about 6Mbps). This was probably 7-8 years ago though, so I'm sure the technology has evolved since then (I see that one says up to 200Mbps, so it must have).

Why not just do wi-fi though? Then you don't need an adapter per network point. If the range is too far, you can get an extra wireless access point, or wireless repeater. I think most wireless access points and routers support repeater mode so that you can extend a wireless network, and they will usually have a 4 port switch built in so you can have a wired option for non wi-fi devices in the room that you put it.
 
Definitely more convenient than running cable, but I don't know if that can justify the price. It's quite expensive still. If it's really a DIK mission (as in crawling in the roof for hours) to get the cable to the other side of the house for instance, I would rather buy the EoP solution just out of convenience/laziness :D

matt said:
I remember experimenting with that at my old work when it was still very new. It worked, but the speeds were super slow (about 6Mbps). This was probably 7-8 years ago though, so I'm sure the technology has evolved since then (I see that one says up to 200Mbps, so it must have).

Why not just do wi-fi though? Then you don't need an adapter per network point. If the range is too far, you can get an extra wireless access point, or wireless repeater. I think most wireless access points and routers support repeater mode so that you can extend a wireless network, and they will usually have a 4 port switch built in so you can have a wired option for non wi-fi devices in the room that you put it.
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Wireless is practical, but it will probably end up being more expensive. You'll need a router and the access point then, which will probably work out more than R1000 in the end. Not to mention having another point of failure with the access point. That EoP really looks like a schweet piece of tech, come to think of it.
 
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matt said:
I remember experimenting with that at my old work when it was still very new. It worked, but the speeds were super slow (about 6Mbps). This was probably 7-8 years ago though, so I'm sure the technology has evolved since then (I see that one says up to 200Mbps, so it must have).

Why not just do wi-fi though? Then you don't need an adapter per network point. If the range is too far, you can get an extra wireless access point, or wireless repeater. I think most wireless access points and routers support repeater mode so that you can extend a wireless network, and they will usually have a 4 port switch built in so you can have a wired option for non wi-fi devices in the room that you put it.
Click to expand...

The problem with Wifi is speed. (might be true for EoP as well though). But I found streaming video from my PC to PS3 (using PS3 Media Server) gave issues when I tried to stream Higher Bit rate videos. (like HD MKV files). Maybe getting a faster Wifi router will solve this, but I dont think the PS3 can go up 300mbs in any case.
 
m3n4ce said:
The problem with Wifi is speed. (might be true for EoP as well though). But I found streaming video from my PC to PS3 (using PS3 Media Server) gave issues when I tried to stream Higher Bit rate videos. (like HD MKV files). Maybe getting a faster Wifi router will solve this, but I dont think the PS3 can go up 300mbs in any case.
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Dude, I rate just go for the EoP. Sounds like a the best solution for what you're trying to do. Wireless is definitely going to be more expensive. Plus you pay more for routers that can share files over wireless. Hell knows why, but that's how they sell it.
 
m3n4ce said:
The problem with Wifi is speed. (might be true for EoP as well though). But I found streaming video from my PC to PS3 (using PS3 Media Server) gave issues when I tried to stream Higher Bit rate videos. (like HD MKV files). Maybe getting a faster Wifi router will solve this, but I dont think the PS3 can go up 300mbs in any case.
Click to expand...

Maybe see what protocol you're using. I think that most wireless routers nowadays use 802.11b/g. 802.11g runs at 56Mbps, which I would think is ok for streaming. If you're running on 802.11b, I think you'll only get 11Mbps, which is probably not enough. If you were to get a router that worked on 802.11n, that pushes the speed up to about 600Mbps, but you'll have to make sure that all your machines support 802.11n.

I'm sure there are more network savvy people than me around here who can say what's the best for you though

EDIT: If you're keen on the EoP thing though, and it works out cheaper, it does sound like a cool option. I'm just wary of it from my past experience with it, but that was when the technology was in its infancy, and it seems to have grown up now.
 
to0kenZA said:
Dude, I rate just go for the EoP. Sounds like a the best solution for what you're trying to do. Wireless is definitely going to be more expensive. Plus you pay more for routers that can share files over wireless. Hell knows why, but that's how they sell it.
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I know, wireless is crazy expensive if you want the good stuff :), not to mention HOW LAZY I AM :P


matt said:
Maybe see what protocol you're using. I think that most wireless routers nowadays use 802.11b/g. 802.11g runs at 56Mbps, which I would think is ok for streaming. If you're running on 802.11b, I think you'll only get 11Mbps, which is probably not enough. If you were to get a router that worked on 802.11n, that pushes the speed up to about 600Mbps, but you'll have to make sure that all your machines support 802.11n.

I'm sure there are more network savvy people than me around here who can say what's the best for you though

EDIT: If you're keen on the EoP thing though, and it works out cheaper, it does sound like a cool option. I'm just wary of it from my past experience with it, but that was when the technology was in its infancy, and it seems to have grown up now.
Click to expand...

The PS3 uses IEEE 802.11 b/g which should be at 54MB/s which as you mentioned should be fine for Video Streaming. But I did pick up heavy Lag when I was testing it out. Then again.... I don't really know enough to say that I did do it the right way.... maybe my router is not set up correctly.

Thank you everyone for yur opinions, guess I will have to revisit once we move into the house to see what the best option would be.

ps. :) keep em coming if you have some handy tips :)
 
I used wireless for my home, then tried the EoP, and to be honest, neither of these were good enough. I ended up running network cables through the house, some of which are still lying on the floor in our passage.

Just bought a house (signed all the papers this morning), and will be installing the Gigabit ethernet network before anything is carried into the house :)
 
TBlaar said:
I used wireless for my home, then tried the EoP, and to be honest, neither of these were good enough. I ended up running network cables through the house, some of which are still lying on the floor in our passage.

Just bought a house (signed all the papers this morning), and will be installing the Gigabit ethernet network before anything is carried into the house :)
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This being the most ideal solution, which I was going to mention earlier, but taking the laziness into consideration :D. Wired connections are still the best. Especially with Gigabit eth.
 
to0kenZA said:
This being the most ideal solution, which I was going to mention earlier, but taking the laziness into consideration :D. Wired connections are still the best. Especially with Gigabit eth.
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Ya, if you don't mind crawling around in the ceiling. I've pulled a few cables through the roof at my place, and it's a big mission. Worth it once it's done though. One of my friends set up a gigabit network at his place, and he actually pulled the cable through the conduit for the mains cables. Otherwise, a bit of trunking doesn't look too bad.
 
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