Powerline network adapters across distribution boards

[alexjb1989]

Hi all,

First off, I apologise for my ignorance and I am certain I will say many stupid things and use the wrong terminology!

I work at a Holiday park that is quite large. We have a few toilet blocks that are out the way, but we would like to get the internet down there. The distance is too far to run an ethernet cable down. However, obviously there is cabling that runs from the distribution board down to the toilet blocks for electricity.

My question is, is there some way we could use Powerline adaptors to get the internet to the toilet blocks. The router is on a different distribution board (and phase I imagine?!). Is there a bit of wizardry that can be done to make this happen?

I hope what I mean gets across.

I am sure there is a lot of info missing that you would need to answer, but please do let me know if there is something you need to know and I can find out.

I'm obviously not asking for a how-to guide, but just know if it as possible before I contact contractors. Unfortunately, our electrician doesn't know anything about powerlines.

Many thanks in advance

 

[Octopus]

Be careful with powerline adaptors - whilst they work very well on single circuits, if they have to operate across one or more RCD's or RCBO's the performance suffers dramatically.

They don't always work across different phases, so in a 3 phase set up they may not work.

I would suggest you buy a pair and see how they work. I use Devolo units and they have decent support if you need it.

Hope this helps.

 

[alexjb1989]

Thanks for the reply. Will certainly have an experiment

 

[Spoon]

This may be classed as 'Not a helpful post' but why put the internet to the toilets?
Do you really want people just sat on the toilet surfing the net? If they don't have it they will do their business and then leave. If the do have it they could spend ages there, to get away from the missus and kid....

 

[alexjb1989]

Ha! Good point, but its to get live displays in there; timetable etc.

Also, if we could the internet there, we could then emit it wirelessly for people in tents in that area!

 

[Midwest]

My Netgear adaptors work fine on the same 'socket' circuit (RFC). Think if you start plugging them into different 'socket' circuits, you'll encounter problems. The technology (I'm no expert) uses the 'wires' between each socket as a connection. Putting anything else in line (MCB's, RCD's, isolators, etc) will degrade the signal.

Suggest you contact the appropriate tech support for the product in question, before wasting your money on something that might not work.

 

[Octopus]

Ha! Good point, but its to get live displays in there; timetable etc.

Also, if we could the internet there, we could then emit it wirelessly for people in tents in that area!

In which case I would suggest you contact a local company who specialises in this sort of thing or else you may encounter problems if you intend to charge for the WiFi

 

[MisterE]

Have you considered using "point to point" wireless bridge(s)?

Such as :- Solwise - Outdoor Bridging Kits - Microwave Links

 

[rsgaz]

The distance is too far to run an ethernet cable down. However, obviously there is cabling that runs from the distribution board down to the toilet blocks for electricity.

Is there any existing ordinary telephone cabling running to these blocks from the main building?

Ordinary broadband could be delivered via these lines from Sky/BT etc very easily, with the downside of monthly ongoing costs. But if you find a spare 'pair' in each block, then you can run ethernet over the unused pairs using the network from the main building and not have the ongoing costs (well, just the power supplies!)

Gaz

 

[gccs]

I wouldn't go powerline adapters for this; your're better using outdoor PoE access points; like:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-37_CPE510.html

15km range apparently! One up the main buildling, one at the toilet blocks as a repeater!