PLP-1200 and WNR2000v5

Question

Here's my situation. Our cable Internet comes into the house in a second floor bedroom, so that's where the modem is located. There's no convenient way to put the modem anywhere else. The PC and smart TV are on the first floor. Connecting a wireless router directly to the modem via an Ethernet cable didn't work very well; the wifi signal at the TV and PC was poor, which was quite frustrating.

Many months ago, as I was searching for a solution to that problem, I discovered powerline networking. I figured that I could connect the cable modem to a powerline adapter in the bedroom, then connect the router to another powerline adapter in the living room--much nearer to the TV and PC. So that's what I did.

(Internet cable)----(cable modem)----(TP-Link 200mbps powerline adapter)----(TP-Link 200mbps powerline adapter)----(Netgear WNR2000v5 wireless router)

The wifi signal on the first floor was greatly improved, and we made it work for many months. However, with a smart TV, PC, and some smartphones all trying (occasionally) to access the Internet simultaneously via one wi-fi router, things sometimes bogged down. So just a couple days ago I decided to add a third powerline adapter just for the PC, while keeping the one for the router. That way the PC would have its own wired connection, and the TV and occasional iPhone would not have to compete with the PC for wifi bandwidth. At the same, time I decided it might not hurt to replace the TP-Link adapters with something a little faster.

I bought two sets of PLP-1200 adapters. I connected one to the modem in the bedroom, and another to the wifi router in the living room--the same setup that had been working for months, albeit a little slowly. Then I added a third adapter in another room, connected directly to the PC.

(Internet cable)----(cable modem)----(PLP-1200)----(PLP-1200)----WNR2000v5 wireless router

| |

---PLP-1200----

|

PC

The result is this:

(1) the new connection between the PLP-1200 at the PC and the PLP-1200 at the modem works beautifully. I am typing this on the PC right now, connected to the Internet via the powerline network. Great!

(2) The PLP-1200 at the wifi router shows all green lights, but the router has no Internet connection. The router works perfectly if I connect it directly to the modem via an Ethernet cable, so the router is not the problem. It's only when it's connected to the PLP-1200 that there's a problem.

I have reset the security all the PL-1200s multiple times, and I also performed a factory reset on all of them. I have rebooted the router many times, double-checked that all the Ethernet cables were fully connected, and even replaced the Ethernet cable between the router and the PLP-1200. No change.

I spent a couple hours on the phone with tech support about this. That was extremely frustrating, but that's another story. When the troubleshooting didn't work, the tech told me that the problem is that outlet where the router's PLP-1200 is plugged in is out of phase with the outlet where the modem is plugged in. I see two seeming problems with that theory. First, how can the outlets be the problem if the TP-link adapters that were previously connected via those same outlets had no problem talking to one another? Second, if I connect the router and its PL-1200 to an outlet in the same room as the modem (which should eliminate any concerns about the outlets being out of phase), I get exactly the same result. Finally the tech suggested that the PLP-1200 at the router was defective. I don't think so, for one simple reason: I was forced to buy four PLP-1200s, but my network only requires three. I had a spare. So I replaced the "defective" PL-1200 with the spare. Exact same result. After a couple hours of this we basically got tired of talking to one another and called it a night.

I'm at my wit's end. Any ideas?

michaelkenward · Answer

I'm afraid I haven't had time to go through your message in great detail, but I wonder if the problem could be that you are trying to use two different sets of Netgear Powerline devices.

Out of the box, Powerline devices will only talk to their partner from the same set.

To add plugs from a different set you have to go through this routine:

Adding a powerline adapter to an existing powerline network | Answer | NETGEAR Support

You can do the pairing with the plugs in the same room, as close together as possible is a good idea. Then when you have got the new plugs talking to the older ones, you can just put the new ones where you want them. They will remember that they are supposed to talk to the existing plugs.

I am slightly surprised that support started muttering about phases. It suggests to me that they are not really familiar with powerline hardware. Phase is important, but rarely in a domestic building with a single power circuit.

MattB70 · Answer

Thank you. I think I have done everything suggested at that link.I reset the security keys multiple times, always being careful to push the buttom for at least two seconds, and to get the adapters cycled within two minutes. I also performed a factory reset on all three powerline adapters. And when that didn't help I moved the misbehaving adapter into the same room as the adapter to which the modem is attached, then performed factory resets on both of those devices, then reset their security keys. Still nothing.

Yes, I really got the distinct impression that the support tech really didn't know anything more than I did about powerline adapters. He was also a terrible listener. At the very beginning of our session he pointed out to me that the PC's wifi was turned off. He was waving the cursor around on the screen, pointing at the little "on/off" button for wifi in the network settings, asking, "sir, do you see this?" and I could tell he was getting ready to say something like, "there's your problem, dummy!" I cut him off. I had just explained to him that I didn't want the PC on wifi.

michaelkenward · Answer

MattB70 wrote:I also performed a factory reset on all three powerline adapters.&nbsp;&nbsp;How many plugs do you have? If you bought two packs I would expect there to be four.&nbsp;Your arrangement is not typical. Maybe that is the issue.&nbsp;Using plugs to bridge between a modem and a router isn't normal. Most people would plug the router into the modem and then run all of the plugs off a single plug LAN attached to the router.&nbsp;Getting wifi to somewhere else in the house is better done using a plug that doubles as a wifi access point, or feeding an access point from a plug.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

MattB70 · Answer

I have four plugs. One is unused because I didn't need it for what I was trying to do. I did factory resets on the ones that are part of the network.&nbsp;The problem with connecting the router to the modem with an ethernet cable, then running a cable from the router to a plug, is that co-locating the router with the modem provides a poor wifi signal to the parts of the house where it's mainly needed. I suppose it'd be better than the current situation (no wifi at all), so I may go ahead and do that as as stopgap measure, but it'd be far from ideal. Trying to solve the signal strength problem was what got me into PL networking in the first place.&nbsp;I guess I don't really understand the difference between a router and an access point. I thought that in this configuration the router essentially was&nbsp;an access point.

michaelkenward · Answer

MattB70 wrote:Trying to solve the signal strength problem was what got me into PL networking in the first place.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is too late now but you could have fixed that by buying a powerline bundle that comes with a wifi access point. The remote plug acts as both Ethernet (LAN) connection and a wifi access point.&nbsp;Connect modem to router. Connect plug to router. Put second (wifi) plug where you now have the router and you have your extended wifi coverage.&nbsp;MattB70 wrote:I guess I don't really understand the difference between a router and an access point. I thought that in this configuration the router essentially was&nbsp;an access point.&nbsp;A router can act as a wireless access point, as you have found, but it is really intended to be a LAN switch and a wifi source. An access point, more usually called a wireless access point, is simply a box that gives access to the wifi. (It can also have LAN ports.) It is usually wired to a router or to a powerline plug.&nbsp;Routers are generally more powerful and controllable than access points, which are pretty dumb. If you look at the documentation of a router you will see that it invariably has a&nbsp;direct connection between the modem and the router.&nbsp;Just to throw in some more confusion, there are also wireless repeaters. These are not hard wired to a router but "listen" to its wifi and repeat it to widen the wifi coverage.&nbsp;You might want to try your fourth plug just to check that the one you have used is not a dud.&nbsp;You can run two separate powerline networks over the same mains circuit. So you could use the router as the source for a second powerline circuit to feed the TV. It might work. But the&nbsp;network is getting complicated.

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PLP-1200 and WNR2000v5

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