Does a powerline adapter lose connection if there is a power surge?

[Muffinman884]

I know powerline adapters don't work well with surge protectors, if at all. That's a problem for me as many things in my house cause surges, like the washer, dryer and air conditioner. If it does lose connection, is there a way around it? Any powerline adapter recommendations or good alternatives if they do lose connection?

 

[manofchalk]

During the surge I imagine that any signal would be destroyed, but I don't see how it would permanently prevent you from using powerline. In that situation I would be more concerned if the PC itself was fine rather than the internet connection.

Also power surges are things like lightning has struck a power line or somethings gone wrong at a nearby transformer which throws the voltages out of wack, not sudden spikes of power draw from appliances which would be an increase in amperage.

 

[bill001g]

A power surge may damage the device but what they are actually doing is transmitting a radio signal over the wire as a antenna...overly simplified I know.

They don't really care a lot about small variations in the power frequencies since these are in like 50hz or 60hz and these devices are running 1000s or more times higher frequencies. They also do not care a lot about voltages other than it being within a range their own power supply can tolerate.

Most the issues with powerline stuff are other device that unintentionally generate signals at the same frequencies the devices are using. Anything with a motor can do that..the worst offenders though are things with high speed motors like vacuum cleaners or hair dryers.

Not sure what you do power surgers very well can destroy a powerline adapter but since surge protectors also filter frequencies in the range used by the powerline devices to communicate its hard to say what to do. When you read the reviews I have yet to see someone complain that a power surge destroyed the device.

 

[allennnn]

During the surge I imagine that any signal would be destroyed, but I don't see how it would permanently prevent you from using powerline. In that situation I would be more concerned if the PC itself was fine rather than the internet connection.

Also power surges are things like lightning has struck a power line or somethings gone wrong at a nearby transformer which throws the voltages out of wack, not sudden spikes of power draw from appliances which would be an increase in amperage.

I was going to post the same until i decided to look into it and found this http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/surge-protector3.htm

 

[westom]

I know powerline adapters don't work well with surge protectors, if at all. That's a problem for me as many things in my house cause surges, like the washer, dryer and air conditioner.

A surge protector does nothing until 120 volts exceeds 330 volts (read that let-through number on its box). No washer, dryer, etc creates a surge. At most it creates noise (maybe as much as 10 volts).

Your powerline adaptor is a well understood problem even 20 years ago by users of X-10 controllers. Do what they did to have effective and superior surge protection, spend less money, and not have signal corruption. Earth one 'whole house' protector.

For some reason, the Leviton 'whole house' protector is popular in home automation discussion groups. However any other minimally sufficient device from other also responsible manufacturers should provide better protection without signal degradation.

 

[Hawkeye22]

If you are getting surges when appliances turn on or lights temporarily dim when applainces come on, then you've got faulty wiring or bad grounds in your house. Fix that problem and that will fix your powerline adapter problems.