I've had 2 x PL1000 working fine over my mains network here for 2yrs. I wanted to expand and obtained 2 x PL1200 to "extend" the system.
I cannot factory reset ANY of these units, pressing the small button with a pin produces an obvious movement but nothing happens and the devices do not reset. So I am stuck with 2 pairs of units, each of which works with one other, and not 4 devices all using the same password to communicate freely between all.
How do I reset these units? I've donwload endless versions of Powerline Utility for Mac and Windows, none of them do anything useful - some see some of the devices but will not take control so are useless.
Is this really supposed to be as flakey as this? I'm about the throw the lot in the bin and buy another system that is guaranteed to work. That's a significant expense of course...
Has anyone any actual experience of making this work, and if so, how did you get the units to all share the same key?
Re: 4 Powerline (2 x PL1000, 2xPL1200) in one network
Yes, and that process doesn't work.
Hence the decision to try and factory reset all 4 devices and then start over. But factory reset doesn't appear to work either. What is the EXACT reset process and what feedback is provided to the user? Everywhere says "press the reset button". This is not clear. Is the unit powered up at this point? Or powering up? Or even powered off? How long do you need to press it for? How do you know it's worked?
What is the point of Powerline Utility software that doesn't work? Google suggests many of these devices (from different manufacturers) share the same chipset and can use each others' software. If this is the case, what do people recommend, and can you provide a download link? I have Windows10 and MacOS machines to use to run it, anything will do to get this working...
In that case, I suspect something else is happening. I have been through that process many, many times as I move plugs around between networks. It has never failed on me.
Unfortunately, "doesn't work" is a poor diagnostic aid. What does it mean? What happened when you tried? What were you doing and what went wrong?
What is the EXACT reset process and what feedback is provided to the user? Everywhere says "press the reset button". This is not clear. Is the unit powered up at this point? Or powering up? Or even powered off? How long do you need to press it for? How do you know it's worked?
Press the reset "button" with power on. (Pointless doing it with a plug that has no power.)
Google suggests many of these devices (from different manufacturers) share the same chipset and can use each others' software. If this is the case, what do people recommend, and can you provide a download link?
That's also the common refrain around here, which is probably where Google found it. It should also find one of the usual suspect. ZyXel's seems to be the most popular.
This page is more helpful than anything that Netgear has written.
Re: 4 Powerline (2 x PL1000, 2xPL1200) in one network
Hi, frustrating isn't it 😉
That ZyXEL page is really useful, as you say, miles better than anything Netgear wrote.
I think I have 2 issues, poor (no?) earthing on some of the older wiring here (which I now understand will throttle bandwidth anyway) and 2prs of Netgear Powerline adaptors that are brilliant at pairing up but resisting all opportunities to form one "quad" network.
I've now got the factory reset feedback happening - it seems that a momentary press of the reset button does the trick, I was holding and waiting for something to happen with the leds, in fact you press and release and then the lights flash. Hurrah. But whatever I do with the key buttons (the accessible white button on each unit) I cannot persuade either of the PL1200s to join the existing PL1000 bridge.
My process, to confirm, is to start with a working PL1000 bridge and factory reset both PL1200s. I wait for a couple of minutes to be sure everything is properly powered up. At this point the bridge between PL1000s is working fine and the PL1200s have a power light only only. I press the white button on the nearest PL1000 for 2-3 seconds. Move to one of the PL1200s and press its white button the same way. My understanding is that this should then join the PL1000 network, which would then have 3 nodes. This doesn't happen (yup, that phrase again). I repeat the process with the other PL1200. Again, no indication that it has joined the party, but then both "house" lights come up on the PL1200s and they have formed a bridge between them, unconnected to the PL1000s.
Am I just being really stupid here, or is there something wrong?
I guess it's time to try the Genie again... but so far it doesn't see my devices at all...
My process, to confirm, is to start with a working PL1000 bridge and factory reset both PL1200s. I wait for a couple of minutes to be sure everything is properly powered up. At this point the bridge between PL1000s is working fine and the PL1200s have a power light only only. I press the white button on the nearest PL1000 for 2-3 seconds. Move to one of the PL1200s and press its white button the same way. My understanding is that this should then join the PL1000 network, which would then have 3 nodes. This doesn't happen (yup, that phrase again). I repeat the process with the other PL1200. Again, no indication that it has joined the party, but then both "house" lights come up on the PL1200s and they have formed a bridge between them, unconnected to the PL1000s.
Again, "This doesn't happen" is very little help in diagnosing what is going on. What "doesn't happen"? LEDs don't come on? Which ones? (See below)
I'm afraid, I can't follow that sequence.
Here's what I do:
Get first pair of plugs to work together
Take next plug and put it into a mains socket near the main router plug
Go the the add a plug process so that plug three joins the network
Confirm that plug three is set up by plugging something into its Ethernet port and check tat the appropriate LED comes on
Move plug three to where I want it
Repeat process with extra plugs
Remember, remote plugs will not show a lit Ethernet LED if there is nothing plugged in. Many people have made that mistake.
And, of course, the plugs don't have an IP address, so they will not show up as devices on a network map.
Re: 4 Powerline (2 x PL1000, 2xPL1200) in one network
OK, this is becoming silly.
When I state "doesn't happen" it means that what we are expecting to happen does not happen:
Once the 3rd unit is joined you would expect a device connected to it to be able to see the network, and since there's a DHCP server there it would acquire an address etc. Looking at the relevant Powerline connector you would expect to see all three leds illuminated, the colour of the "house" providing some indication of raw speed. When I write this "doesn't happen" it means precisely this - there is no DHCP, no ethernet connection at all, and the "house" light does not illuminate in any colour at all. To paraphrase the dead parrot sketch... you get the idea. I do not know what more technical way there is to explain this.
Can anyone meanwhile confirm that the Netgear Powerline Utility (MacOS version) is a complete waste of time.
I'm giving up. This is just consuming too much time. It should be plug and play - it is anything but. Play and pray might be OK, but this doesn't even get that far. Thank you for your input, but we've made no progress 😉
Looking at the relevant Powerline connector you would expect to see all three leds illuminated, the colour of the "house" providing some indication of raw speed. When I write this "doesn't happen" it means precisely this - there is no DHCP, no ethernet connection at all, and the "house" light does not illuminate in any colour at all.
That is information that you knew but did not bother to tell the rest of us.
We don't pluck these questions out of the air. They come from reading hundreds of messages from people with Powerline problems, not to mention a lot of personal experience.
"doesn't happen" is a hopeless, lazy and arrogant explanation of a problem.
Enjoy your search for more information. I leave you in the capable hands of the mind readers.
Re: 4 Powerline (2 x PL1000, 2xPL1200) in one network
So, I did actually decide to give this one more shot.
I'm posting my findings here as information for others who may also be contemplating a multi-powerline set up.
Devices:
2 x PL1000 (Euro connectors, pass through power variant)
2 x PL1200 (Euro connectors, no pass through)
... and yes, the installation site is in France so hence the Euro spec devices.
1. Factory reset all devices.
2. Connect my router to PL1000 #1.
3. Connect my Mac laptop to PL 1200 #1. Up comes the magic pair of "house" lights on both devices and we have connectivity. Hurrah.
4. Add 3rd and 4th devices, one at a time, moving my laptop to each one as it powers up and syncs - green "house" lights on each device and connectivity.
Now, I suspect my neighbour is using default Powerline equipment too, because in the above tests I discover a rogue DHCP server handing out addresses on another subnet. This doesn't appear to be an issue with all 4 PL devices close to each other (on the same plug board in fact) but I decide it would be good practice to set a non default encryption key (see p22 of the user manual for these devices).
So back to my first device. I press the white button for 2secs and it starts flashing its power led. I move to second device and press white button. Various leds flash and back it comes, and connectivity check passes. I repeat this process with devices 3 and 4, always using 1 as the master. My understanding is that the modified encryption key remains locked in until a factory reset, it's only generated freshly the first time you perform this process with a default device. So on this basis, 4 PL devices should now be all using the same key, all talking to each other, and ready to deploy around the house.
I do this, and test. The PL 1000s now talk to each other, but not the 1200s. And vice versa.
This is the precise scenario I reported at the outset of this set of posts, and the responses I've had have varied from really helpful (the ZyXEL manual tip etc.) to downright patronising/rude.
The Netgear Genie software is a complete waste of time on modern MacOS, it doesn't see any of the devices. Likewise the Powerline Utility. They don't have an IPv4 address it seems, so some black magic is involved, which seems to not work. Wouldn't it be great if you could just telnet into these devices with a console and set them up? I know, old school, but in my experience beats "plug and pray" every time, and would presumably explain what's going on above. Someone else here was asked "why do you need Powerline Utility?" - I guess Netgear didn't think it was useful when they built it and made it available then? I'm assuming that more up-to-date OS's thwart the discovery magic and hence Netgear cannot make these things work any more. It would save people a lot of time if they simply said so.
I'm off to buy a mesh wifi solution - it won't be from Netgear.
