Hi, I’m thinking of using my old PC as a Haikubox. Trouble is, I need access to the internet, but the PC does not have a Wifi card, and will be placed nowhere near the router (it’s behind the sofa). I was thinking of using a “Powerline” adapter (I was thinking of getting these ones, since they state that they are ‘plug n play’: http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/3317/2584/-/34066308/Hercules-ePlug-200Mb-Mini-Pass-Through-2-Adapter-Pack/Product.html) to get send Internet access from downstairs to upstairs. I have had no experience with these, so will they work in Haiku, and do they require any additional software?
What is wrong with adding an Ethernet card and running a cable to the router?
[sarcasm] First off, thank you for answering my question [/sarcasm]
The PC already has Ethernet built-in. The router is downstairs, connected to the only telephone socket in the whole house, and it is behind the sofa. The PC is upstairs. I’m not prepared to refurbish my entire house just for the sake of installing an OS with Internet access. Also, I don’t want to have to run a long cable from the living room to my bedroom.
As long as you have a Network Interface that is supported by Haiku then you won’t have any issues.
I have a similar product under the Solwise brand and they work fine, you don’t need to install any software - although I understand some brands have to be first paired up, but that wasn’t the case for mine (I have a total of 4 running in my home).
Hope that helps.
The only thing to be careful about is the structure of your internal electrical wiring. These types of devices do not work where your connecting cable is formed from a spur; as in it spurs off your ring main. Also try not to use them on extension cables, although I believe most documentation for these devices recommends against this anyway.
Well, I was going to try them, but I’ve just booted Haiku on my PC only to realize I finally broke my flat-screen (after I dropped it for the fifth time); it just flashes on and off.
Thanks for the advice on the Powerlines though!
One: I am glad you got your problem solved.
Two: The reason I asked about the cable is that as a computer tech time and time again I have seen people go for complex and/or expensive solutions and yet forget that the goal can be often meet with a simpler and cheaper solution.
Related to the second half of your answer about wiring the cable, it never crossed my mind that running a cable would be a messy situation. Both myself and friends have had no problem stringing cables about our houses - keep to the corners - run under the carpets - use the house vents - you don’t need to make mess to run cables.
Anyway, since you have a working solution, have you benchmarked to see how fast it is? What is it like when downloading large files. Does it affect your radio or TV reception? In other words would you recommend this system to other people in your same situation?
[quote=Earl Colby Pottinger]
Related to the second half of your answer about wiring the cable, it never crossed my mind that running a cable would be a messy situation. Both myself and friends have had no problem stringing cables about our houses - keep to the corners - run under the carpets - use the house vents - you don’t need to make mess to run cables.
Anyway, since you have a working solution, have you benchmarked to see how fast it is? What is it like when downloading large files. Does it affect your radio or TV reception? In other words would you recommend this system to other people in your same situation?[/quote]
Umm… he didnt solve his problem/have a working solution. His LCD is broken so he cant run the computer anyway, so his original question is no longer relevant.
I have to say, I dont like having cables running around, and powerline ethernet is much easier and neater to set up.
Performance depends on what units you get, speeds go from 10mbps up to over 200, but that is total shared bandwidth, and is almost certainly going to be less than that once you take into account noise on the power lines caused by switching power supplies etc. In my experience it can make quite a lot of difference just moving the plugs around to different sockets. But they are easily faster than most peoples internet connections, so fine for internet. They dont interfere with radio or TV.
Sorry, I mis-read his reply. See, I still can mess up.
And yes even 10mbps should more than fast enough for web browsing.
Interesting point about trying diffirent sockets giving diffirent results, seeing how I found out that diffirent sockets in the condo I presently am in goes to separate circuit breakers even when the sockets are all in the same room!