Power over Ethernet - 3 units?

[Jimmah]

Hi all

I currently have a Netgear PoE setup in my house, one near the kitchen plugged into the router and one in the lounge plugged in to a STB. I want another PoE unit in my room to connect to my PC, because it's way too far away for a decent wireless connection. Am I able to buy a single unit for my room, and it will connect to the plug near the router, or do I have to buy a new twin pack and plug it into the router?

 

[g0rd0]

What else are you connecting to that you need poe? In my experience poe has been used mostly for wireless access points where it would have been tricky to also run electric. If it's in a room any switch, or just a long cable run should do.

 

[eibgrad]

Hmm, I think the OP is referring to powerline adapters, NOT "power over ethernet". Perhaps it should be called EoP (ethernet over power)

Yes, you can just add another powerline adapter. You need at least two to get started, but you can always add powerline adapters one at a time to extend the powerline network. Of course, there's usually an upper limit too (might be 8, 10, whatever, depending on manufacturer).

 

[Jimmah]

Hmm, I think the OP is referring to powerline adapters, NOT "power over ethernet". Perhaps it should be called EoP (ethernet over power)

Yes, you can just add another powerline adapter. You need at least two to get started, but you can always powerline adapters one at a time to extend the powerline network. Of course, there's usually an upper limit too (might be 8, 10, whatever, depending on manufacturer).

Cheers. Now, am I able to use a different manufacturer for the third one? The existing pair is Netgear and I'm looking at buying a TP-Link PA211 Single.

 

[eibgrad]

Powerline adapters have standards, just like wireless. You have to make sure they meet those same standards. For example, I believe most current standard is HomePlug AV2. Any HomePlug AV2 adapter is *supposed* to be fully interoperable/compatible w/ any other HomePlug AV2 adapter. And HomePlug AV2 should be backward compatible w/ HomePlug AV (the prior standard), although you may see a performance hit when mixing (just as mixing wireless B, G, and N on the same network may lead to a performance hit). You can read all about these standards on the wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug

Personally, I would stick w/ the same make and model whenever possible w/ powerline. I just don't have the same confidence wrt interoperability as I do w/ wireless. But others swear by it and mix brands. So you decide.

 

[g0rd0]

Perhaps it should be called EoP

+1 to that.

Jimmah, manufacturer shouldn't matter, but I would get one that is at least as fast as your other adapters.

 

[Jimmah]

Best answer selected by Jimmah.