PLP1200 powerline PLUS PLW1000 or 1010?

Question

I have installed a PLP1200 kit and it works great to get ethernet up to an upstairs office in a brick home, from a downstairs room with a Comcast Arris wireless cable modem router. This system replaces a now-dead (surge from lightning strike) original XE(?)102(?) powerline kit.

Now, I'd like to get fast internet into another upstairs room.

I'm considering buying another PLP1200 kit ($79) but I only need one more unit, so I'd have an extra one. Do/Will Netgear soon sell single units separately?

It occurs to me that I might want to do powerline wireless instead in the second upstairs room, in order to have an ethernet port and, in addition, a wireless signal up there for phones as well as laptops. I found Negear powerline wireless kits plw1000 and PLW1010, which appear to be the same.. Are PLW1000/1010 units compatible on the same power lines with the plp1200 units I have already installed?

If compatible, are they a slower powerline standard, and will they slow down the service to the upstairs PLP1200 unit due to a "slowest link" compatiblilty issue? (I'm not worried about bandwidth and simulaneous usage, just slowing down the nice speed I already have with the powerline.)

If compatible on the same power lines, do they use the same communications protocols, i.e. will I need to install both ends of the PLW1000/1010 kit, or might the existing PLP1200 unit downstairs attached to the cable modem router communicate effectively"driving" a new PLW1000/1010 receiving (and wireless rebroadcasting) unit upstairs, working with the signal that is already on the electric line from the PLP1200?

Thanks for any knowledge. Cant find it in Netgear sites (which describe compatibility with older gear), or Amazon or Newegg answered questions.

michaelkenward · Answer

JBSF wrote:Do/Will Netgear soon sell single units separately?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This is a constant refrain. People dislike the idea of buying pairs when they need single units.&nbsp;The response is usually to go find a compatible single unit, regardless of who makes it.&nbsp;These things work to industry standards. Find one that claims to be of the same "AV" standard as the ones you have and just add it to the circuit.&nbsp;I have successfully combined different hardware of different speed standards and it works. Of course, if you add a slow plug, then some of the network will work at its standard. (I'm afraid I haven't seen a definitive answer as to how much of the network will slow down.) So find something that is as fast as, or faster then, what you have now.&nbsp;

JBSF · Answer

Thanks for the suggestion. &nbsp;Netgear product specs state that&nbsp;the wireless transmitter PLW1000 works to a 1000bps standard, while the PLP1200 powerline is a 1200bps standard. &nbsp;Both are "Homeplug AV2 compliant," which I guess means they will work on the same powerlines. &nbsp;Still wondering if I would need to install BOTH transmitters in the downstairs office, in order for each of the slightly dissimilar units to work in different rooms upstairs, or if the PLP1200 powerline signal will also send a compatible / suficient signal to&nbsp;the PLW1000 ethernet plus wireless transmitter that I want to install in a second upstairs room.

michaelkenward · Answer

I am a bit confused by your reference to two "transmitters".

Only the PLW1000 us a transmitter in the sense that most of us understand it. It is a wifi transmitter/receiver as well as a powerline plug.

The PLP1200 is just a powerline plug. It doesn't do much in the way of transmitting in the conventional wifi sense. It just sits on the network exchanging information with other plugs on the mains LAN.

The PLW1000 will also take part in this LAN exchange but it also has the added ability to handle wifi.

All of these plugs will take part in the "over the mains" data exchange that comes out of the powerline plug that is attached to your modem/router. The PLW1000 doesn't depend on anything from the PLP1200, beyond handling stuff that is connected to it.

The 1000 and 1200 thing are solely related to the LAN speed over the mains circuit. They have nothing to do with wifi speeds.

Just stick the PLW1000 in the room where you want to provide wifi and away you go.

Things will work at the 1000 speed, but I bet you won't notice any difference.

JBSF · Answer

Because there is no wireless coverage in a&nbsp;part of the house (distant from the modem/router/wireless transmitter downstairs, and separated by a brick wall), I am considering purchase of a&nbsp;PLW1000 kit to&nbsp;add to a well-functioning PLP1200 kit, to provide both a fast ethernet cable plug and additionally and inexpensively provide a wireless signal in a distant bedroom. &nbsp;&nbsp;The PLP1200 powerline kit and the PLW1000 (or 1010) kits each have two units in a box, each making a two unit kit. &nbsp;Marketing materials for each product kit&nbsp;state that a unit from each&nbsp;kit needs to be attached to the router for the other unit in each kit (on the other end of the power mains) to get a signal. &nbsp;Netgear marketing materials do not clearly state whether these two slightly dissimilar products will work together. &nbsp;The PLP1200 which i already own works at one speed, the PLW1000 works at a slightly slower speed, using apparently the same or similar commuications AV2 protocols across the electrical mains circuits of the house, between the electrical outlets that the units plug into. &nbsp;My question was whether the signal sent across the electrical mains in the house from the PLP1200 unit attached to the router could be read effectively and efficiently by a single&nbsp;PLW1000/10 unit&nbsp;(with antennae for wireless transmission) that I am considering to put upstairs. &nbsp;&nbsp;Because the PLP1200 operates at a higher speed and/or spec than the PLW1000, i have concerns that the PLW1000 lower spec unit wont be able to read the signal put on the electrical line by a PLP1200 that is connected to the router.&nbsp;If the lower spec (PLW1000) unit cannot make efficient use of the signal put onto the wire by a higher spec (PLP1200) unit, I &nbsp;would presumably be required to also connect the second PLW1000 unit (the one without antennae) to the router and to an electrical outlet, and I was supposing that these signals might interfere with one another. &nbsp;I suppose&nbsp;that I could&nbsp;switch out the PLP1200 unit currently attatched to the router with the second, lower spec (PLW1000) unit, but the entire powerline network might then be slightly slower.&nbsp;If either of these situations described in previous two paragraphs were the case, I&nbsp;would not purchase the PLW1000 wireless transmitter kit,&nbsp;but would&nbsp;instead purchase another PLP1200 kit to use only&nbsp;one of the two devices in the box to install in an outlet in the additional upstairs room, to read the signal on the electrical lines from the previously installed PLP1200 kit, enabling fast ethernet-wired internet in another room of the house, and I would forego wireless up there, or install a separate wireless extender, while still also having an extra unused PLP1200 unit for later use elsewhere if needed. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

michaelkenward · Answer

I thought the point of your question was really about getting a single plug. I didn't know that we were diving into the technical issues around speed and reach.&nbsp;You are making this more complicated for yourself than it needs to be. Stick to what matters. Forget about all those hypothetical scenarios that you have cooked up.&nbsp;You said at the start:I have installed a PLP1200 kit and it works great to get ethernet up to an upstairs office in a brick home, from a downstairs room ....&nbsp;(I cut out the reference to the modem because it confuses the issue. The plugs don't check on the make and model of the modem.)&nbsp;So it sounds like your mains wiring can handle "LAN over mains".&nbsp;So, turning to this bit:JBSF wrote:My question was whether the signal sent across the electrical mains in the house from the PLP1200 unit attached to the router could be read effectively and efficiently by a single&nbsp;PLW1000/10 unit&nbsp;(with antennae for wireless transmission) that I am considering to put upstairs.&nbsp;Unless something is getting in the way, the answer to that, based on my experience, is "probably", and with a high probability. (No one can guarantee what will happen.) Set it up the powerline/wifi plug to talk to the plug at the modem/router and then put the powerline/wifi plug in the room that needs wifi and it will talk to the plug by the modem/router and spread the wifi locally.&nbsp;None of these plugs will give a damn about the standard for the speed they are supposed to work at.&nbsp;Now on to the next issue:JBSF wrote:Because the PLP1200 operates at a higher speed and/or spec than the PLW1000, i have concerns that the PLW1000 lower spec unit wont be able to read the signal put on the electrical line by a PLP1200 that is connected to the router.&nbsp;I thought I had been through all that in my first response. Let's try again. Even simpler.&nbsp;Plugs designed for different speed will work together. But they may talk to each other at the speed of the lower one.&nbsp;I'm sorry. I can't find simpler ways of saying it. Maybe someone else has a better way of explaining what is going on.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

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PLP1200 powerline PLUS PLW1000 or 1010?

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