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Forum Discussion
Powerline 500 won't connect to network
Hi all, wonder if someone may be able to help where Virgin Media cannot.
I have a Powerline 500 (purchased thru Virgin Media) but it can't be seen on the Super hub 3.0 network.
Lights on the wired adapter are green, apart from the house plug which doesn't light up.
On the wireless adapter, the power light is on, the wifi signal is blue but not blinking, and again the house plug isn't on.
Virgin say they can see the adapter is connected, but the Netgear Genie says it's not and I can't log in.
Nor can I see it in my list of available wifi connections.
I've been thru the set up instructions a dozen times, including trying a factory reset, but no joy.
Anyone else had this problem and found a solution?
Many thanks & fingers crossed.
8 Replies
Is the Wired adapter an XAV5401? There are a couple of different possibilities - some of which have more than one ethernet port. Let us know if you have a model with multiple ports.
Also, when you say "Genie" do you mean the Netgear Powerline Setup Utility? Unfortunately, Netgear labels a lot of stuff "Genie".
eek-a-mouse wrote:
I have a Powerline 500 (purchased thru Virgin Media) but it can't be seen on the Super hub 3.0 network.
... Virgin say they can see the adapter is connected,
This is conflicting information, so it requires a bit more research.
Check the ethernet LED on both the wired adapter's ethernet port and the router port that it is connected to. The powerline LED port should be green, the Superhub port could be either green or amber (most likely amber).
If your wired adapter has multiple ports, then you can also try connecting a laptop or PC to one of the other ports, and see if the PC connects ok.
Once you are certain that the wired adapter is connected to the router, you can then start troubleshooting the XWN5001's connection to the wired adapter (through your house wiring), and after that's all functioning, troubleshoot the wifi connection.
- Hi Stephen,
The wired adapter is XAV5201 with a single Ethernet port.
When I said Genie, yes, i meant the Netgear setup utility.
Like you, I'm unclear how the Virgin tech could see the adapter was connected when I can't. I wonder now, if he meant the router was connected and had signal. He was first line support. When I got thru to 2nd line, they robbed me off to Netgear as they don't support this model. Or some such.
The Ethernet light is green on both on the wired adapter (see pic) and on the router port where the cable is connected.
I have decent Wi-Fi connection direct from the modem, the extender is for when working in in the loft or garden.
Cheers
eek-a-mouse wrote:
The Ethernet light is green on both on the wired adapter (see pic) and on the router port where the cable is connected.Yes, and it looks like the powerline LED is off. Is that what you meant by the "house plug" in your earlier post? Was the XWN5001 running when you took that picture?
One thing to try is to connect the two powerline devices to the same circuit (even with no ethernet). You can do this with a powerstrip for testing purposes. Then see if the two powerline LEDs are green.
eek-a-mouse wrote:
.... apart from the house plug which doesn't light up.
The "house plug" is the "Pick A Plug" LED. This is a sign that there is no connection between the plugs over the mains network. Nothing will work until you fix that.
The best way to set up powerline plugs is with them near to each other. This will confirm that they are working.
When you know that is happening you can just move the plugs to where you want them. If the Pick A Plug LED does not light up, then there is a problem on the mains network, perhaps a separate mains loop that is isolated from the one where the "source plug" is connected.
The Ethernet LED will not come on unless you have a device connected to the LAN port.
Unless you want to test the wired LAN, as your aim is to get the wifi up and running, you can ignore the Ethernet LED for the time being.
The Netgear genie – the desktop Windows app – should show your Powerline device on the Ethernet network, if it is working. One nice feature of the latest genie (2.4.54) is that you can click the plug and get it to show you, and click, the IP address. This will take you to the control interface for the device where you can change the SSID and wifi passwords.
Thanks.
You're correct in that it's the Pick A Plug light that's not lighting up.
This is a new issue, all lights used to be on and displaying as expected.
Nevertheless, I currently have both plugs plugged into the mains in the same room.
I even swapped the socket the wired plug was connected (directly into the wall).
When the router rebooted, I tried to reconnect from scratch by pushing the security button on the side of the wireless adapter until the lights blinked, then hit the wps button on the router to try and get a connection. No luck.
The Pick A Plug lights no longer come on.
As you say, without that, I'll never be able to get any further.
I'm not an electrician, but those same mains sockets successfully power other devices, so i cant see how that's the prob. Altho, you did say something about a loop, but I don't know what that is or how to address it.
As I mentioned, this pick a plug issue is new. :/
WiFi works as expected, generally. It's just the extender that's playing hard to get.
Cheers
Sounds like the plugs are bust.
But I don't get this bit:
eek-a-mouse wrote:
WiFi works as expected, generally. It's just the extender that's playing hard to get.
Is that wifi from the XWN5001? If so, that suggests that they are connected.
Have you run the Powerline utility to check if it can see the powerline network? Or look for the ZyXel alternative, which is a lot better.
Powerline wifi may also show up in the Netgear desktop genie.
There is support for the XWN5001 somewhere at the end of this link:
>>>> XWN5001 | Product | Support | NETGEAR<<<<
