Using different speed/brand powerline adaptors?

[KingOfComputing]

I recently ordered a set of NETGEAR PLP1200-100UKS 1200 Mbps powerline adapters from Amazon with the aim of extending an existing powerline network I have with a set of TalkTalk (UK ISP) branded AV200 adaptors already in use.

But I hear different things about how cross compatible powerline adaptors are. Is it ok to mix speeds and brands in the way I am proposing? Or am I likely to run into problems?

Assuming it is at least possible (if not guaranteed) it will work, how do I get the old existing powerline adaptors to 'see' the shiny new Netgear ones? Or is this process entirely automatic?

 

[madmatt30]

I doubt they'll pair mate & evennifbthey did you'll be limited to the speed of the slower ones.

Use them as seperate entities is my advice .
ie.
Plug them into seperate Ethernet ports on your router & run them as 2 seperate pairs.

 

[bill001g]

They are suppose to all follow the same homeplug standards and are suppose to be compatible but you see people complaining they do not always work when running them from different vendors.

Still you wasted a lot of money if the goal was to run these together. The new adapters if they are successful in talking to the old ones will drop back to the old protocol used by the av200 units. You might as well have purchased more of the slower units.

In addition these form a full mesh network. This greatly reduces your total speed. Just going from 2 units to 3 in noticeable. The more you add the slower it goes. Most have a limit of 6 devices anyway because they degrade so badly.

Even running 2 pair is going to cause massive issues because now they will talk over the top of each other and interfere like wireless does. There really is no good solution to this.

 

[KingOfComputing]

They are suppose to all follow the same homeplug standards and are suppose to be compatible but you see people complaining they do not always work when running them from different vendors.

Still you wasted a lot of money if the goal was to run these together. The new adapters if they are successful in talking to the old ones will drop back to the old protocol used by the av200 units. You might as well have purchased more of the slower units.

In addition these form a full mesh network. This greatly reduces your total speed. Just going from 2 units to 3 in noticeable. The more you add the slower it goes. Most have a limit of 6 devices anyway because they degrade so badly.

Even running 2 pair is going to cause massive issues because now they will talk over the top of each other and interfere like wireless does. There really is no good solution to this.

Not too worried about the speed issue as the older AV200 receiver sits in the bedroom and only gets used (and switched on) at night when I'm not using my main PC that the faster Netgear 1200 will be connected to, so if they work the speed difference would be a non-issue as the AV200 receiver would only be on the network for a very limited time and wouldn't overlap with the Netgear one being used.

The real issue seems to be whether it will work at all. At least Amazon are usually very good about returns but I would really like to make it work if possible as I got them cheap on a lightening deal....

 

[KingOfComputing]

I doubt they'll pair mate & evennifbthey did you'll be limited to the speed of the slower ones.

Use them as seperate entities is my advice .
ie.
Plug them into seperate Ethernet ports on your router & run them as 2 seperate pairs.

Yes, thought about doing this, luckily they are both passthrough ones so I could do it without losing any wall sockets but then they would eat up two ethernet sockets on the router instead of one and as I have the router with the TV where I have various set top boxes and consoles there isn't any to spare to begin with, suppose I could downgrade one of my consoles to wifi at a pinch as they sit right next to the router it shouldn't be that slow hopefully.

Only other thing is whether one of the adaptors will interfere with the other one...

 

[bill001g]

You only really have 2 options. You run them as separate networks and they stomp all over each other. Hard to say what actual throughput rates you will get since it depends on traffic to a point. Or you run them as 1 network and they only run at 200m. I am not real sure what the network does if you turn the av200 units on and off. This is not a recommended installation option. It may stay at 200m even if you turn the av200 unit off....this I have no clue so if it works I suppose you could post back here the results

 

[madmatt30]

Honestly I can't speak for the av1200 with gigabit ports.
I'm running 2 seperate networks , one on a pair of tplink 200s & the other on a triple set of tplink 500s.

The issue here aa a comparison is all my adapters only have 10/100 ports.

I CAN max out the av500s 10/100 connection while also dragging 60mbps off the 200s simultaneously (which is pretty much all the 200s could ever manage anyway)
I'm maxing out my isp connection there & if there is cross interference the threshold is below what I actually have anyway.

I honestly think you'll have a nightmare trying to link all 4 plugs to one network .
2 seperate networks is going to work far better I'm 100% certain even if you have to drop an extra £10 on a 4 or 5 port switch .