Powerline Networking, What is good?

[eedmond]

I bought a HP/RCA powerline network system but it doesn't work. Says it supports Win XP but the drivers crash XP. So I am looking to buy something to replace it. I am looking at the Netgear XA06 http://www.netgear.com/products/details/XA601.asp?view=hm
Anybody had any experience with this. My two machines are a 98 box and a XP Home box.

Anybody else have a good experience with another brand?

Thanks,
Eric

[Gollo]

Think about wireless? Two usb adapters setup in ad-hoc mode (peer-to-peer) will get the two systems talking to each other. Throw in an access point and you could roam about with a laptop or handheld with wireless (if you have one). Just an option.

[eedmond]

The person who want's this does not want wireless. He want's wired but he doesn't want to wire RJ-45.

-Eric

[NooNoo]

Originally posted by eedmond
The person who want's this does not want wireless. He want's wired but he doesn't want to wire RJ-45.

-Eric

So... coax? What kinda of wiring will he accept?? :confused:

[eedmond]

He doesn't want to wire anything. He wants to use existing wiring (IE powerlines).

-Eric

[NooNoo]

Ooooh those, no, no experience sorry.

As for xp crashing - have you contacted the company, read the faqs looked for alternative drivers - such as using the 2k driver?

[kato2274]

powerline networking sure is an interesting concept as is home pna networking. unfortunately I don't have experience with either of them. the phone line networking seems to have gotten a better overall response than the powerline probably because the standard offers better speed than the powerline specs currently.

just curious, but what's his main objection to wireless? a lot of people worry about its security which actually isn't an issue if the network is implemented and administered correctly.

networking is moving towards wireless. the standards are getting faster and more secure. it's really the wave of the future.

[Gollo]

Originally posted by kato2274
powerline networking sure is an interesting concept as is home pna networking. unfortunately I don't have experience with either of them. the phone line networking seems to have gotten a better overall response than the powerline probably because the standard offers better speed than the powerline specs currently.

just curious, but what's his main objection to wireless? a lot of people worry about its security which actually isn't an issue if the network is implemented and administered correctly.

networking is moving towards wireless. the standards are getting faster and more secure. it's really the wave of the future.

I totally agree. With wireless you can enable WEP which is a start. Then enable mac filtering and if your still paranoid turn off dhcp and use static ip's. Any "hacker" that trys to get into that setup and succeedes has WAY to much time on his hands.

[eedmond]

Security isn't in issue. His nearest neighbor is about 2 acres away on either side. Kinda out in the country. Mainly he doesn't want wireless because the two computers are about 100 feet apart with a concrete wall seperating them and then several other walls. He does not believe the wireless will reach. I have no exp with any networking other than coax and RJ-45. Anybody know if it will work?

-Eric

[Gollo]

Wireless with the access point in between the two (50 feet to the access point from either computer) and decent cards in the computers and that distance should be easy.

Checkout linksys products. Solid and pretty good. You can even get a booster pack for the ap if the connection is flaky with just the ap. I would suggest the usb nics because they can be postioned to get better access. Good luck.

[InvisiBill]

I've got our old brick house connected via HomePNA. It works exactly like a regular NIC, except you plug it into the existing phonelines. I haven't done any speed tests on it or anything, but the only problem I had came when I hooked the NIC in after my modem. The modem has a digital feature where it disables the "phone" jack when you're online, to keep people from picking up the phone and disconnecting the modem. Obviously, having the NIC hooked to that jack didn't work too well. Once I moved some wires around on the back of my PC, everything was fine. I bought a pair of used D-Link cards from someone over at hardforums.com and later added on a Netgear card.