BT Ethernet Powerline Adaptor Issue

I have had a BT Home Hub 5 setup in my hallway for over a year now and I used to connect my computer and laptop to the internet via three Netgear powerline adaptoss which worked okay. I love online gaming so reliable high speed internet connection is essential. But, problems kept arising so I decided to replace the Netgear powerline adaptors with BTs broadband extender 500 kit.
Currently, I have one adaptor connected directly to my router, and two more upstairs in different rooms. I managed to setup the kit after some time due to a really unclear instruction manual and got the three lights on all of the adaptors green. However, the ethernet green light is continuously blinking...
The first day I experienced okay connection speeds, but today was the complete opposite! This happened throughout the day and I finally decided to try again later during an off-peak time at 11pm. Same result.
Firstly, the data light on the adaptor connected directly to the router sometimes goes orange, I understand this means medium transfer speed, but this didn't happen at all yesterday. Next, the adaptor in another room upstairs had an orange data light and sometimes all the lights switched off then back on again as if the adaptor was reseating itself?! My laptop connected to this adaptor could not connect to the internet at times and when I tried to view a simple Youatube video, it buffered and lagged! This has never happened before. Also, in the same room, when I tried to access the internet via the Wi-Fi with my tablet and laptop, the same issue arised - very slow internet. Let me remind you that I have not experienced this slow internet speed before.
Meanwhile, someone was watching Netflix in another room upstairs using the third BT ethernet adaptor. They said the streaming was buffer-free and perfectly fine.
I am very confused as to why the internet connection with was fine for someone else in my house using the broadband extender, but not for me. Could it be because I am using three BT broadband extender adaptors instead of the two? But when I used the Netgear adaptors, I used three as well and there were not as many issues than I am facing now...
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.
p.s. All the BT powerline adaptors are coronary enacted directly to the lead rival rockets and I know for a fact that there are no problems with my devices that I use to try and access the internet.

Powerline adaptors are tricky things, as they rely on your mains wiring to carry the signal. All sorts of things can affect the signal strength, and consequently the speed.
Interference from nearby appliances can affect the signal. If possible, try another socket in the room.
As a general rule, sockets on the same ring are best. The adaptors should work on different rings off the same consumer unit (mine do), but at a lower speed.
If you have a complicated wiring system with multiple distribution boards, then that may affect the speed a lot. If you have a three-phase mains supply, then they are unlikely to work on different phases.

Similar Messages

Powerline adaptor issue

Hi,
We want to move our BT Vision box from the kitchen to the lounge.
In the kitchen it works on a powerline adaptor as it is too far from the hub to hardwire.
When we transfer it to the lounge, the powerline adaptor looks like it is working fine - all the same lights as when connected in the kitchen - but we get the message ' Not Online' on the TV, and cannot pick up our Vision service.
If we move it back to the kitchen again, it works fine.
We have plugged an extension into the kitchen and run it through to the lounge, plugged the poweline in so it is effectively working on the kitchen electricity circuit and it again works fine.
We have one consumer unit, nothing complicated, and cannot understand why the lounge will not work!!
Can anyone help??
Thanks

There are many threads on this forum about the use of Powerline adapters. If you are lucky they will work, but there is no guarantee that they will. The best chance of them working is if they are on the same ring main, but even then they can cause problems. Bt does not now approve their use.

Powerline/Homeplug Issues with Homehub 5

Hello all,
Having an intensely annoying intermittent issue with Powerline adapters & HH5.
Set up is:
BT Broadband Extender flex connected to HH5 upstairs with a BT Wifi Home Hotspot downstairs (just to increase wifi coverage)
TP Link TL-PA211 Powerline adapter also connected to HH5 upstairs with 2 other TL-PA211s downstairs (1 for Sky demand & 1 for PS3...different rooms)
They have all worked at same time!......but
Intermittently - the PS3 TL-PA211 will stop working & then "re-connect" of its own doing later & the Wifi Hotspot will stop working (no data light either upstairs or downstairs) & then spring into life of its own accord eg. last night it did it overnight!
I have done no end of pairing & unpairing ritruals & full resets to the point where I think I might need a new stair carpet.
I'm now beginning to think there might be an issue with the homehub?
I'm aware of its "smart" capabilities & switching etc.......is there any setting that I need to look at or a re-boot or refresh or anything?
Thanks in advance all!

Would agree with gk406.
Firstly - leave the hub alone.
When you set up a home network system, despite 'out of the box solutions' coming with two adaptors, one to wire via ethernet to the router and another to position wherever, if you connect both systems directly to the router it can cause compatability issues, as both will fight for control of the 'satellite' adaptors to the point they don't know which one to communicate through, so they end up not doing anything. I am guessing the odd disconnections/reconnections is due to Sky taking control of the system - checking for updates etc in the middle of the night, then relinquishing control once having carried out its checks so the other device can reconnect...
Pick one system to use (shouldn't really matter if both 200mb or 500mb systems- though I have a mixture of both so have the 500mb adaptor plugged into the router) though I am thinking the TP Link as they are the most prevalent in your system, and unplug the other. Connect one device (of the chosen system) via ethernet to the router, connect its paired mates and ensure all works as advertised and the boxes you have connected to it can get online. I would check the Skybox under its own settings to confirm it is connected - they can sometime refuse to connect and need to be powered down and back up to let them see the network. You could also take a note of its IP address to make sure you can see it on the network, then trial download something from On Demand to verify all is OK. If TP Link comes with any software to monitor the adaptors make sure all is up and running. I guess at this point you could leave the BT system off, to make sure you don't get any odd disconnections overnight.
Once that is verified, connect only one of the other BT devices and check it connects up to the network, and that you can connect to it.
For this step, to save both your legs and carpet, I suggest you do this upstairs next to your router. I tend to get all my powerline adaptors in one room with the router and a laptop, then set them up on a power brick - purely to make sure they all connect to the network and that I can connect to them using the laptop - THEN distribute them around the house, verifying each one in turn connects OK before I move to the next.
Obviously you could do this the other way around, by plugging the BT adaptor into the router and your BT hotspot adaptor downstairs, then just using the two TP adaptors for your sky and PS3 - there shouldn't be any reason for it not too work.
Hope that helps - apologies for length!

Time Capsule and Powerline Adaptors - Internet periodically freezing

Hi all,
I hope you can help with a problem I am having with my home network. The Virgin Media broadband in my home arrives in my home office and, in the past, when I connect my Time Capsule to the VM router and use it to generate a wireless network I get a very poor wifi signal in the rest of the house - the office is at one end of the property and I suspect there are several metal beams in the wall blocking the signal.
So, to improve the network I bought some TP-Link Powerline adaptors. I have run an ethernet cable from the VM router to one adaptor, put the second adaptor in the living room and attached an ethernet cable from the adaptor to the Time Capsule. The wifi signal from the Time Capsule is now excellent in all parts of the house, but, for some reason, the internet periodically "freezes" on any wifi or wired device that I attach to the TC. There is no issue with the wifi reception - all the devices continue to be attached to the TC with great reception. The broadband service is also not at fault - I have an iMac connected directly to the VM router in the office and the internet continues to run perfectly on that computer during these outages. Each outage lasts 1-2 minutes, occurs about every 5 minutes and during that time I am not able to do anything on the internet - it is not related to a particular site
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what is going on?

Powerline adapters are not ethernet cables.. they have their own issues.
Test the setup by plugging a laptop/nearby computer into the powerline adapter and see if you have issues at all. Load it up since the TC is going to run it fairly hard with multiple computers connected.. ie Run a few downloads and do browsing etc at the same time.. check the actual speed of the link and how stable it is.
If it is fine, then the issue is the TC.
Alternatively just get another router, eg TP-Link WDR3600 which is only about $70-80. Borrow one from a friend. If that has no problems then you can pretty well say the issue is TC.
In that case we need to know exactly which TC running exactly which firmware. This issue is well known in the later AC model.. it is caused by some issue with the WAN port not holding the line correctly. You may need to do a bit of work on it and sadly apple have removed logging and lots of abilities from the TC so it is now pretty hard to do any realistic testing. Hence if the new router works.. keep it and set the TC as a Wireless AP.

Using Time Capsule to create a wifi network from a Powerline Adaptor

OK, before I ask my question, I just have to 'paint the picture'.
I live in a work residential complex, with wifi provided. However this wifi is awfully weak, to the point that I can only sit in one spot to receive it, and then it still drops out. I tried using an airport express to extend the signal, but the wifi router won't allow it.
Through the company that provide the service, I am know using a powerline adaptor ( you know the sort; one ethernet cable from router to adaptor, and another from adaptor in room to laptop) and I get broadband.
I'd like to find some way of getting wifi from that, to my mbp, iphone and appletv all on the same network.
Ok, the crux, I want to buy a Time Capsule, if I do so, by plugging the ethernet cable from powerline into it, will I be able to create a wifi network that 1. Allows devices to connect to it, and 2. Access the Broadband service.
Hope that's clear ;-)

I want to buy a Time Capsule, if I do so, by plugging the ethernet cable from powerline into it, will I be able to create a wifi network that 1. Allows devices to connect to it, and 2. Access the Broadband service.
Yes and yes.

Powerline Adaptor Failure Rate

There have been a few threads now regarding the failure of Powerline Adaptors.
I recently spent £20 for a second hand replacement from the well known auction site, but others seem to be asking or getting BT to replace these, presumably for free even after they are over a year old?
Now we all know these run quite hot, and electronics and heat are not a good match for long life, so if we are going to see more of these fail, can we expect BT to supply a better version or superior make in the future, or replace the current Comtrends if they are proving unreliable?
Its a little worrying that as they run so hot, some of the increasing number of faults might result in a fire?
Mine failed after 1 year and 10 months of use, left on 24/7.
Any thoughts guys...........?

Has anyone out there had success with addition of said Powerline adaptor?
The performance of Ethernet powerline adapters cannot be predicted in advance. One brand might work great in one home, but the same brand and model in another home just won't work.
Your best bet is to make sure that you understand the stores' return policy before you buy, since you cannot know how well.....or IF...any given adapters will work in your home until you try them out in your home.

Powerline adaptor/ plug recommendations please.

Hi everyone.
Please can you recommend some good powerline adaptors please.
At the moment I only have the old netgear's 85mbps plugs, these only allow me to pull through 17 Meg.
When directly wired I manage to get the full 37 Meg download.
My wife will not allow me to have cable trailing around the house so better plugs are the way forward.
Are these ok, will they do the job.
http://www.shop.bt.com/products/bt-comtrend-powerline-hd-ethernet-female-kit-4Z2J.html
Many thanks..
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Many thank's.
Pc world only had a limited range in the one that was close to me.
I ended up buying the Devolo 200AV Wireless N starter kit.
The good speeds are back..

Home Hub 3 Losing Powerline Adaptor Connection

Hello All,
First off, apologies if this question has been posted and/or answered elsewhere but I couldn't find any posts that duplicate my situation.
I have BT Infinity with a Home Hub 3 (installed in July last year) and all seems to be well except for the ability of the Home Hub to keep ethernet connections alive.
My setup;
1x HH3 in the study, connected to the Internet as per usual & performing DHCP duties with a gigabit switch to connect all the 'local' hardware.
1x Comtrend 9020 Powerline adaptor pair to connect the apple TV in the lounge.
The problem;
The powerline adaptors - which I only chose after seeing that they were the same kind installed by BT Vision engineers, so they must be considered compatible with the HH3, right? - seem to keep 'dropping off' my network. Originally, I had them using DHCP addresses because I figured that the BT Vision customers wouldn't be doing any additional configuration but that didn't work so I guessed that there must be something that the BT Vision box does to keep the connection alive.
Now I have tried switching to fixed IP addresses but that also seems to be a dead end because they still drop off the connected devices list on the HH3.
It would appear to be the connection between the HH3 and the Powerline adaptors which is being dropped because when this happens I am unable to login to the powerline config interface (browser based) and pings are not responded to.
If I want to stream content to the Apple TV I now have to resort to resetting the HH3, the powerline adaptors and the Apple TV, which kind of defeats the convenience factor a little (plus it would be far too technical to explain to my wife). BTW - the full reset process was arrived at after trying different combinations of resetting the 3 components in the chain with no success.
Any ideas?

You must use fixed IP addresses outside of the home hubs DHCP range, otherwise you will have the same problem
See Static IP
I think you can do that for the Powerline adapters as well.
Login to the Powerline web interface, password is BT, I think there is a setting to use a static address. You will need to use a different address for the other Powerline adapter.
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

3 powerline adaptors with airport express and extreme

Hi all,
I am currently using two airport express and 2 TP-LINK powerline adaptors to create a "roaming" network, however i would like to add another powerline adaptor and an airport extreme to my network.
Modem -> Airport Extreme in the living room with an ethernet cable plugged into the powerline
1st Airport Express plugged into the 2nd powerline adaptor
3rd Airport Express plugged into the 3rd powerline adaptor
so my question is will the above setup work? or do i need to connect another powerline adaptor into the main Airport Extreme making the whole network use a total of 4 powerline adaptors? however if only a total of 3 powerline adaptors are required, would the network be confused and render the whole network useless?

To set up the 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) as a bridge, either connect to the AEBSn's wireless network or temporarily connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to one of the LAN port of the AEBSn, and then, using the AirPort Utility, make these settings:
AirPort Utility > Select the AEBSn > Manual Setup > Internet > Internet Connection tab
Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode)
Click Update to apply the new settings
AirPort Express Base Station (AX) - iTunes Setup
Either connect to the AX's wireless network or connect directly, using an Ethernet cable, to the Ethernet port of the AX, and then using the AirPort Utility in "Manual Setup" mode, make the following changes:
AirPort Utility > Select the AX > Manual Setup > AirPort > Wireless
Wireless Mode: Join a wireless network
Network Name: <existing AEBSn's wireless network>
Wireless Security: <select the encryption type of the existing wireless network>
Wireless Password: <enter the existing wireless network password>
Verify Password: <re-enter the existing wireless network password>
AirPort Utility > Select the AX > Manual Setup >Music
Enable AirPlay (checked)
iTunes Speaker Name: <enter desired speaker name>
iTunes Speaker Password: (optional)
Verify Password: (optional)
Click Update to write the new settings to the AX

Trying to set up Airport Express with Ethernet Powerline adapters

Hello,
Having some problems trying to set up my Airport Express with Netgear ethernet powerline adapters.
I want to set up as follows:
Wireless Belkin router --- powerline <---> powerline --- airport express --- home stereo system
The problem I have is that I can connect the airport x in client mode & wirelessly play music using airtunes (until the sound breaks up) but itunes does not find the airport x when connected via the powerlines.
I have airport admin utility configured as follows:
Airport tab:
Wireless mode: create a wireless network
Wireless network name: same as my wireless router SSID
Allow this network to be extended: unticked
radio mode: 802.11n (802.11b/g compatible)
Channel: automatic
Wireless Security: WPA/WPA2 personal (as per my router)
Wireless Password: as per my router
Verify Password: as per my router
Internet tab:
Connect using: ethernet
Connection sharing: off (bridge mode)
Music tab:
Enable Air Tunes ticket
no password set
In iTunes, I have home sharing on & share entire library selected with no password set.
Using OS 10.6.5 & Airport Express 7.5.2
I can ping the IP address of the airport express when connected via the powerlines but cannot select the speakers in iTunes (they are greyed out).
Any assistance would be appreciated....
Thanks

Hi,
Thanks for the quick response...
As suggested, I connected up the Airport X to the Belkin and plugged in a pair of headphones. It didn't work, still could not select the Airport X as speakers.
Dug out my old Netgear DG834G and connected that up in place of the Belkin - it worked. Next connected in the Netgear powerlines and it still worked.
So, the problem is the relatively new Belkin F7D4401 router.
Looks like I will have to find an alternative 802.11n...
Thanks for your help.
Regards
Simon

Ethernet- Firewire adaptor Do they work in OSX?

Hi, after reading about the new macbooks I was thinking about getting one to replace my 2 year old macbook pro. But of course theres no firewire, I edit hdv video so no firewire is a no go. Then I read on a forum that there exists ethernet->firewire adaptors, a quick google search came up with one:
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=205852397&SearchEngine=DealTime&Search Term=205852397&Type=PE&Category=Comp&Gad=0&dcaid=15891
I've never heard of converting ethernet into other interfaces and I don't know if the mac would recognize it, but it does seem like the only possible solution.

Ok, for some I agree, the white macbook is more than adequate.
But compare the specs of my black macbook from 2 years ago
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP23
with the specs of the white one for sale now
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP5
There's not much difference. Small increases in processor speed, bus speed and shared video memory. In the computer world I think it's fair to say that's outdated. I'm not saying it's an ancient slug. Since if I were, then my
macbook would be the primordial ooze from which that slug evolved
Bottom line, if someone is in the market for the new aluminum macbook,
and they want firewire, you can't just tell them to step back to the old
white macbook. It's just not a substitute at all.

Faulty Powerline Adaptor - no response from techni...

Hello,
One of my Comtrend Powerline Adaptors gave up the ghost on Monday 8th March, not showing any lights at all. When I unplugged it, I found that the two plastic mounting pins had basically disintegrated and the whole front of the unit came off in my hands.
After consulting the troubleshooting guide, I only got a very dim power light and the unit wouldn't reset. I followed the advice given and reported the problem to the BT Vision Technical Help Desk via their online form.
I received an automated reply but have had nothing else in reply since Monday. What's the usual response time for the technical help desk? Is is worth pursuing my original report or is it likely to be lost in the system somewhere!?
Any help from the moderators would be gratefully appreciated
Cheers,
Clare

Phone up on 08001114567

Powerline adaptor - Hotspot 500 kit compatibility ...

I have a new BT Hotspot 500 kit and am having problems connecting my older Simpler Networks HP200PT64BT passthrough to the new network. The new kit works well but I would like to add another connection to the network by reusing one of my old simpler networks adaptors. I am having no luck. Are these compatible? Am I doing something wrong? Any assistance would be appreciated.
thanks

While all makes and types of powerline adaptors are meant to work together they rarely do. I would also not mix a 200 Mbps adaptor with a 500Mbps adaptor. It will drag your speeds down to the slowest adaptors rate. I would just buy a new 500 adaptor which should work without problem.

Powerline Adaptor Question / Volume button

hi there, got BT Vision a few days ago. You know the plug socket that is on the powerline adaptor whats that for? Can i plug anythig in that like a plug? as its quite wide you cant plug in next to it so perhaps thats what its for?
also my controller works fine, every button, but volume up makes it go to a weird teletext thing and volume down switches it to analogue TV which is a bit weird. any ideas?

You can use the plug socket on the power line for anything. Its there to replace the one you have used to power the device.
Regarding the volume buttons, it sounds like the remote is programmed incorrectly for your television and use need to enter the correct code for the remote so that it send the right signals to the televison for volume up/down. The list of the codes, and how to programme the remote, are in teh vision instruction manual - alternatively post back, on this forum, with teh make and model and someone might be able to supply teh correct code.

BT VIsion Powerline Adaptor

I've been sent a new BT VIsion Powerline Adaptor, but no information on what I'm to do with it or why I've been sent it... Can anyone send me in the direction of why and what I should do next?

There is a small potential danger with the old ones. Follow the instructions to set the new ones up, replace the old ones and send them back in the bag provided.
For more info search the forums for "powerline".

BT Ethernet Powerline Adaptor Issue

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