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Re: [LUG] OT: Diagnosing Powerline problems.

 


On 05/12/2019 21:39, Julian Hall wrote:

Hi All,

I hope someone can suggest fixes for these two issues, short of buying new adaptors that is. In the house I have several adaptors of different makes and standards, obviously I will only list the ones in use, bought in pairs, previous to the Netgears below I had two Zyxels and a couple of Trendnets on the network at different times;

2 x Netgear Powerline PL1000 Bridge Wall-pluggable 1000 Mbps - call them N1 and N2

2 x Zyxel Powerline [don't know model number but 500 Mbps with pass through socket, twin Ethernet ports], Z1 and Z2

N1 in bedroom connected to NAS and router - via router to Virginmedia 'Superhub' in Modem Only mode. Same connection to VM Tivo in bedroom.

N2 in newly set-up office connected to PC via Ethernet.

Z1 connected to Tivo in lounge.

Z2 connected to Internet bridge for TADO [Smart heating system] also in newly set-up office.


Problem 1. Both Netgears have 'Smart' network connections which search for the fastest connection on the network and show green, amber or red - red for slow connection. N1 connects and shows green for fastest connection speed located. N2 shows red every time for slowest speed found. Any ideas how to make them both connect at the fastest speed possible?

Problem 2. Z1 refuses to establish a connection to the network but Z2 works fine.


What has changed is that N1 and N2 are new, previously the PC was in my bedroom, but I wanted faster speed in the new office so bought the Netgear adaptors. N1 and N2 need to be where they are or else there is no point in having them as I will not have Gb connection speed from the PC to the router. Also I need Z1 where it is as the passthrough is required due to having only a dual socket but three devices to plug in - TiVo, TV and Powerline adaptor. I've had grief with Z1 previously, the BD player in the lounge would not connect to the network suddenly; I then found out it has WiFi so changed to that and probably did not look further. My bad. Any thoughts?

I tried turning off Z1 and N2 then turning N2 on first but it still shows red for the network speed.

Could N2 be finding Z2 first which is 500 Mbps and whinging, as they are in the same room? N1 could be finding the router and be happy as that is Gb? Is that possible? I'm loathe to test that by moving Z2 as the TADO is a menace to reconnect when it loses the network.

Kind regards,

Julian


I recently bought some extra powerline (devolo) adapters and encountered a split brain issue,

I connected a new Powerline adapter and did the normal pairing routing, pressing the button on the existing powerline adapter that connects to the router, then pressing the pairing button on the new powerline adapter, what I found was that the powerline adapter paired with another existing powerline adapter (not the one that it was supposed to be pairing with) and created a second network in my house. So I had two pairs of networks, one of which had no uplink to the Internet.

In the end I factory reset (with a paper-clip) the two adapters, set them up individually connected to the Internet, upgraded all their firmwares to the same latest version, and started again, this time they seemed to co-operate together and I've got a single powerline network again.

I have a lot of old powerline adapters, but I don't use them, as I've had endless issues with co-operability between not just different manufacturers, but different firmware versions from the same manufacturer.

Powerline can be a real pain to set up, once it is done it seems to remain stable, and even get more stable with time.

My advice is gather all your powerline adapters together, connect each one individually to your Internet router, factory reset, and load on the latest firmware available, disconnect them all again, and pair them up to each other individually on a 4 or 6-gang extension lead with the master connected to your Internet router, once you have them all paired up, move them all back to their proper locations and they should remain paired.

-- 
Giles Coochey
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