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Forum Discussion
Nknelsen
Aug 23, 2017Aspirant
Range extension using AC?
Hello. I'm hoping someone here can help me. I have wifi in my house. My Barn is 300 feet away. I have central metering so the barn and house electrical are essentially the same. Is there an AC range e...
michaelkenward
Aug 25, 2017Guru - Experienced User
300 feet might be pushing wifi, LAN may work.
If the barn is on the same mains circuit, then powerline is an option, but there too that is one long run.
- NknelsenAug 25, 2017AspirantWould an AC signal travel through 2 circuit breakers? The Guy from Netflix doesn't think it would, but I have a hard time believing that. A breaker doesn't change anything in my opinion, it let's electricity flow through it until it senses a load too high for it to handle. I have enough cat 5 line to run from house to barn but digging up my lawn to bury it is no fun. But buying expensive gear and finding out it doesn't work is no fun either.
- michaelkenwardAug 25, 2017Guru - Experienced User
I don't know what you mean by "AC signal". Powerline doesn't send AC. It just uses the mains cabling.
I can understand what Netflix people tell you, but they sell movies, not network connections. I don't sell networks either, but have used powerline through two circuit breakers. It works. But the performance is not as good as on a circuit that does not cross circuit breakers.
A pair of powerline plugs probably costs a lot less than digging a trench or the cost of the LAN cable. At $40 up, they are not "expensive gear".
Do you have to dig a trench to test the LAN cable?
- NknelsenAug 25, 2017AspirantSpellcheck got me again. I meant Netgear. And by AC I meant units that send an Internet connection over a houses power wires. I never thought about testing my cat5 cable. Thanks