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Forum Discussion

WarrenCl's avatar
WarrenCl
Follower
Oct 18, 2023

Expanding Powerline network

Hi,

I have virgin media branded netgear power line that are the plugin ethernet cable type (1000?)

 

One is plugged into my virgin router at the front of the house and the other was in my kitchen and then plugged into a Tenda wifi router.

 

I have built a garden office and moved the power line and Tenda router in there, however, whilst working, the speed is much slower than it was in the kitchen. Red light - 1mbps. Distance from the Virgin router I'm guessing being the problem.

 

Is it possible to buy another power line adapter that works with what I have and provides wifi for the kitchen and if so would it effect the speed of the router now in the garden office?

 

Would it slow the garden office internet or speed it up (boost it along the power lines?!?!?).

 

Thanks in advance.

 

1 Reply

  • michaelkenward's avatar
    michaelkenward
    Guru - Experienced User

    WarrenCl wrote:

     

    Is it possible to buy another power line adapter that works with what I have and provides wifi for the kitchen and if so would it effect the speed of the router now in the garden office?

     


    Most recent Powerline devices follow the AV standard, which means that you can mix different makes and different generations. The only issue if that if you add "1000" plugs to a network with "500" plugs they will talk to each other at the speed of the slowest plugs on the network.

     

    In your case, adding an extra plug would get around the problem that Netgear sells only bundles of plugs. So to get a wifi plug you'd have to buy at least two plugs.

     

    Amazon has at least one AP plug that should work with your network.

     

    When you do add plugs to an existing network, you should follow these instructions:

     

    Powerline Networking | Powerline Ethernet | NETGEAR

     

    Remember, you need only one "source" plug connected to the router.

     

    One other thing to consider, in theory you can mix brands but it isn't always easy to get set them up.

     

    On speed issues, I can't see how adding a plug would do anything to other things on the network.

     


    I have built a garden office and moved the power line and Tenda router in there, however, whilst working, the speed is much slower than it was in the kitchen. Red light - 1mbps. Distance from the Virgin router I'm guessing being the problem.

     


    I wouldn't ascribe the slowdown to distance alone. The separate building may well have its own fuse box and mains isolators. Powerline signals don't like those barriers.