Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
This review references the same environment as this one, specifically a really large house with serious WLAN interference issues. Not that it matters.
Since my customer had continuous and ongoing wireless connectivity issues in his home between one particular PC and his wireless AP, I decided to try a different tack.
Ordinarily a situation where wireless doesn't work calls for the simple application of a few dozen feet of Cat5. Given that the property I'm working worth substantially more than $2 million dollars (note to California, New York and London-area SF members - that's seriously huge amount of money for Real Estate where I live, even if it sounds merely average to you), I was understandably reluctant to go poking holes in my customer's walls.
Since then I've been looking at some non-destructive options for networking on that property.
I tried a Hawking HAI6SIA Hi-gain antenna (thanks Bookmage), which upped the signal on their WRT54G from 2dB to 6dB. This did not improve the extremely shakey network connectivity for the "suspect" PC. I plan to test the Hawking Antenna at home sometime soon, as a possible alternative to having a small radio station in my extra bedroom. I also tried a Netgear WG121 USB2-based 802.11G adaptor on the misbehaving client. Its connectivity displayed the same problems, despite all the range extenders and the high-gain antenna.
So, in desperation, I installed a pair of Netgear XE102 Homeplug to Ethernet bridges.
Like, I think, a lot of techies, I've kind of scoffed at the Homeplug standard. Why use that, when you can run a cable or use wireless?
'Cause sometimes, you can't.
Let's start with the contents of the box: There's an XE102, and there's a cat5 cable. And some plastic wrappers and cardboard. No documentation. No CDs.
Awfully ballsy of them, isn't it?
Truth be told, it absolutely isn't needed. I plugged one in to their Router and into the wall, and all three of its indicator lights came on at once (indicating power, link, and activity). On the other end, I did likewise, and the PC in question had a proper IP and 10Mbps connection before I even finished crawling out from under the desk.
Down sides?
A quick trip to Netgear's web site suggests that the device works best being plugged straight into the wall. Since it is ultimately electronic, I have to wonder if it has its own built-in surge supression or if electrical storms will limit its reliability. This was not an issue in my installation - I couldn't've plugged an XE102 into the surge protectors on either side if I'd wanted to. XE102s are not that big, but a wall-wart is a wall-wart...
Netgear claims that an unlimited number of XE102s can be used on the same "network". Other vendors apparently limit the number of homeplug devices to 16. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the transmission media is shared, as it is on an 802.11 or non-switched ethernet network.
Netgear's web site suggests that I *should* have gotten a CD with some software to enable 56-bit DES encryption. I didn't, with either of the two XE102s I purchased.
... and that's another thing: The XE102 kit includes only ONE device. You need to purchase TWO to do anything useful. I paid $50 apiece for two of them. $50 does not seem unreasonable for a specialty product like this.
The main limiting factors on these devices appear to be noisy circuits and the usual suspects for EMI (fans, fluorescent lights). In a smaller home, I might be concerned that the network connection could spread to wiring outside the home itself. However, given the size of the property involved, I don't think I'm going to worry about it.
Overall I was quite pleased with the XE102. They saved me a substantial amount of trouble, and after spending almost an entire day struggling with wireless, my customer was extremely satisfied at how quickly the Homeplug setup went.
I'll update this review should there be reliability issues with these devices, but right now I'm glad I bought them.
Since my customer had continuous and ongoing wireless connectivity issues in his home between one particular PC and his wireless AP, I decided to try a different tack.
Ordinarily a situation where wireless doesn't work calls for the simple application of a few dozen feet of Cat5. Given that the property I'm working worth substantially more than $2 million dollars (note to California, New York and London-area SF members - that's seriously huge amount of money for Real Estate where I live, even if it sounds merely average to you), I was understandably reluctant to go poking holes in my customer's walls.
Since then I've been looking at some non-destructive options for networking on that property.
I tried a Hawking HAI6SIA Hi-gain antenna (thanks Bookmage), which upped the signal on their WRT54G from 2dB to 6dB. This did not improve the extremely shakey network connectivity for the "suspect" PC. I plan to test the Hawking Antenna at home sometime soon, as a possible alternative to having a small radio station in my extra bedroom. I also tried a Netgear WG121 USB2-based 802.11G adaptor on the misbehaving client. Its connectivity displayed the same problems, despite all the range extenders and the high-gain antenna.
So, in desperation, I installed a pair of Netgear XE102 Homeplug to Ethernet bridges.
Like, I think, a lot of techies, I've kind of scoffed at the Homeplug standard. Why use that, when you can run a cable or use wireless?
'Cause sometimes, you can't.
Let's start with the contents of the box: There's an XE102, and there's a cat5 cable. And some plastic wrappers and cardboard. No documentation. No CDs.
Awfully ballsy of them, isn't it?
Truth be told, it absolutely isn't needed. I plugged one in to their Router and into the wall, and all three of its indicator lights came on at once (indicating power, link, and activity). On the other end, I did likewise, and the PC in question had a proper IP and 10Mbps connection before I even finished crawling out from under the desk.
Down sides?
A quick trip to Netgear's web site suggests that the device works best being plugged straight into the wall. Since it is ultimately electronic, I have to wonder if it has its own built-in surge supression or if electrical storms will limit its reliability. This was not an issue in my installation - I couldn't've plugged an XE102 into the surge protectors on either side if I'd wanted to. XE102s are not that big, but a wall-wart is a wall-wart...
Netgear claims that an unlimited number of XE102s can be used on the same "network". Other vendors apparently limit the number of homeplug devices to 16. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the transmission media is shared, as it is on an 802.11 or non-switched ethernet network.
Netgear's web site suggests that I *should* have gotten a CD with some software to enable 56-bit DES encryption. I didn't, with either of the two XE102s I purchased.
... and that's another thing: The XE102 kit includes only ONE device. You need to purchase TWO to do anything useful. I paid $50 apiece for two of them. $50 does not seem unreasonable for a specialty product like this.
The main limiting factors on these devices appear to be noisy circuits and the usual suspects for EMI (fans, fluorescent lights). In a smaller home, I might be concerned that the network connection could spread to wiring outside the home itself. However, given the size of the property involved, I don't think I'm going to worry about it.
Overall I was quite pleased with the XE102. They saved me a substantial amount of trouble, and after spending almost an entire day struggling with wireless, my customer was extremely satisfied at how quickly the Homeplug setup went.
I'll update this review should there be reliability issues with these devices, but right now I'm glad I bought them.
