This does just what it sounds like: uses your existing electrical system as Ethernet, effectively giving you the range of a wired network without any of the mess or the need to run cable behind walls.
Each of these adapters has at least one Ethernet port. You use the one closest to your cable modem or your other Internet connection to hook up all the other connections to your home's copper wiring. The units transform the Ethernet IEEE 802.3 protocol into the HomePlug AV2 protocol. Your data then runs over your electrical wires and when it arrives at another powerline network device, it's reconverted into Ethernet.
This sounds more complicated than it is in practice. One of the best things about powerline networking is it's trivial to set up. There's usually no software to worry about; you just plug one unit into the wall socket, plug its Ethernet cable into your router or switch, plug the other adapter in a power socket in your other office space, plug a router or a device into that device's Ethernet port and ta-da, instant network. And if you need to get the network into another room, just add another unit. No fuss, no muss.
Here's what powerline networking delivers in 2021. First, it's fast. In theory, you can reach speeds of 2.4 Gigabits per second (Gbps). We all know how network speed numbers are in real life. Still, I get 1Gbps speeds at a distance of 30 feet in my last office. That's more than fast enough for most of us.
Variations of powerline networking have been around since 2001. But, like most technologies, the oldest version — HomePlug 1.0 — is no longer supported. HomePlug AV2 is backward compatible with the older HomePlug AV and the smartgrid HomePlug GreenPHY standards. But, if you use either of the others, you'll only see speeds as fast as the slowest technology. So, for example, you'd only see 200 Megabits per second (Mbps) with HomePlug AV and a pathetic 10Mbps with GreenPHY. In short, update your powerline networking gear to the newest and fastest hardware available.
Now, powerline is not a miracle network cure. For example, if you live in an older home, your wiring may not support high speeds. The only way to find out is to get a pair of units, available for about $100, and try them out. In my case, I'm building a new office next door with modern wiring. Between that and the Cat 6 I've installed to keep my servers talking to each other at 10Gbps, I should be fine.
One mistake I see people make all the time is plugging a HomePlug AV2 into a UPS or surge protector. In fact, you can see this blunder on the HomePlug Wikipedia page. These devices, usually helpful, can seriously slow or even completely knock out a powerline network. Don't use them.
Another convenience: many HomePlug devices have a passthrough outlet so you can still use your office outlet for electricity. Even then, you want to be careful. Anything that constantly draws electric power, like a phone charger or has a motor in it, such as a vacuum cleaner, can cause interference and drop your bandwidth.
You can also use it as the backbone for your Wi-Fi network. (I've done this in every place I've ever deployed powerline.) So in my next office, I'll use it to connect my mesh network for my guest and outdoor network. This way, I'll have both direct-wired access from my main office, my associates' office, my server closet — and strong Wi-Fi over my entire property.
As for security, while a powerline network is much harder to break into than a typical Wi-Fi network, it can still be hacked. To prevent that, powerline technologies come with built-in 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption over the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. From geek into English, that means someone has to really, really be trying to crack your network to get in. That's one reason I recommend powerline over Wi-Fi for home office setups in apartment buildings when security is a primary concern.
Finally, if you decide to go with powerline networking, don't mix and match equipment. There's enough wiggle room in the standards and enough proprietary "improvements" between vendors that odds are you'll see poorer performance if you have one gadget from column A and another from column B.
What equipment should you buy? I recommend TP-Link's TL-PA9020P V3 or Netgear PLP2000. There's also newer gear such as the Asus 1200Mbps AV2 1200 Wi-Fi Powerline Adapter and TP-Link AV2000 Powerline adapter, which combine Wi-Fi and powerline networking. It sounds promising, but I haven't had a chance to test any of them yet so I can't make recommendations on the hybrid networking devices yet. |
