On 19/07/2019 10:38, Chris Green wrote:

I am investigating my options for getting the LAN to work as well as
poosible around our property. We are having quite a lot of changes
done at the moment (new shower room, balcony, etc.) and so some parts
of the existing cat5e plus WiFi will have to move and/or be replaced.

The 'existing' coverage is provided by the main VDSL router (Draytek
2860n) which provides WiFi for some of the house and a second Draytek
(2820n) with the WAN side turned off covering some/all of the rest.
There is then a length of cat5e draped through a tree and going to the
garage for the backup system and, thence, a TP-link outdoor access
point for more distant WiFi.

I'm considering using powerline networking for filling in some gaps
and/or replacing some of the more bodged cat5e connections. How good
can powerline networking be? I know I'm unlikely to get a good speed
over really long bits of mains wiring but if one uses more than one
powerline device will they 'chain' their connections to provide good
end-to-end working or are they not that clever?

My tests with a fairly basic pair of Tenda (supposedly Gigabit)
powerline devices suggest that they're only 'good' when used on a
single, or at least closely associated, circuits. However if I can
add more of them so that they 'chain' across the system that could
well be a reasonable solution, but I need to know if they can
interconnect like this. Does anyone know?

I am not aware of any that "mesh" as such. Ones of compatible speeds
will interoperate on the same set of wires - but I think its basically a
peer to peer network. (How many devices you can have will depend on the
chipset in use. Incompatible ones can share the same mains wiring, but
form separate non connected networks).

I find them good on a single circuit and not bad between circuits on the
same CU. Generally good for getting round the limitations of wifi, or
forming the backbone of connectivity to wifi access points. The more
devices and circuits you go though however the poorer the connectivity
speed will get. For example, I have a set of "hi power" homeplug devices
that I link to my workshop with. That goes comms cabinet circuit MCB,
RCD in main CU, then to garden/outbuilding CU, through its RCD to a HRC
fuse carrier, cable to Garage CU, via RCD, and MCB. It just about works
- speed is fairly slow and it can only manage an "orange" connection
status on the mains side...

Having said that, CAT5 is better if its available. Homeplug tends to be
better than "normal" wifi around a building unless it has multiple
access points. Not tried meshing wifi to see how that compares, that
might tip the balance, although homeplug is pretty cheap - and you can
get homeplug devices with built in wifi APs as well.


--
Cheers,

John.

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