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Forum Discussion
Powerline Adaptors - Distance & Sub-panel Limitations?
Dear community , I want to use powerline adaptors at a project but the electrical distribution network is more complicated than most. Specifically, there are one or two or in one case even three electrical sub-panels between the location of the adaptor at the router and the adaptor on the other end where we want to establish an internet connection. The distances are not great.....at most 150 feet, but I am concerned that the internet signal may be degraded by the transmission through one or more sub-panels and breakers. Can someone tell me if there is a rule of thumb for the maximum distance and or the maximum number of sub-panels that can be between the two adaptors before siginal is degraded? I am transmitting minimal data packets and the device I am installing is either a digital electricity meter, or a water lank level monitor. No streaming video or VOiP. Thank you for any guidance you can offer. Cheers, Jim
3 Replies
ZipRyan wrote:
The distances are not great.....at most 150 feet, but I am concerned that the internet signal may be degraded by the transmission through one or more sub-panels and breakers.I'm afraid that 150 feet is a stretch for Powerline. That and the various connections means that this isn't likely to work.
I have tested powerline through a couple of junction boxes over 50 feet or so, and the signal is poor.
Howdy Michael,
Thank you for your advice......very disappointing, but not nearly as dissappointing as buying the gear, installing it for a client, and then findng out too late that it just doesn't work.
I guess the Powerline Comms or PLC tchnology that electrical utilities use to read meters in vast areas is a more robust technology than the small adaptrors we can buy for home networking.
I have used powerline com's a couple times, but those were short distances and virtually direct electrical network connections. Never passing through a sub-panel or two or any significant distance.
Oh well, back to digging trenches to install CAT-6 cables!
Thank you again!
JimPowerline does well for truly local connections, but the nature of the technology, messing around with signals sent over a possibly noisy mains circuit, leaves it open to interference.
In my case, the connection was between an office and the house. Both had their own fuse boxes. There was also an extra switch isolating the office from the house. So, probably enough "interrupts" to emulate what you had in mind. And, as I sad, more like 50 feet or less. I got a connection, but not great.
One thing I have found is that, despite Netgear's warnings about extension block, they don't seem to cause any issue.
The 150 feet you are looking for might even cause issues with some wired LAN cables. It is certainly a stretch for wifi. So good luck!
You could see if Powerline would get far enough to feed a wifi access point that could stretch as far as your intended location. But that might be slightly flaky and liable to fall over a bit too easily. I have an Orbi router (AP mode) running from a Powerline connection, but that is a mere 20 feet and on the same mains circuit.
