How much does it cost to run a HomePlugAV network?

This question popped into my head today when I was contemplating leaving my HomePlugs on 24/7 instead of having to run around the house turning them on/off as required. So here's what I figured out:

• Power consumption of the Aztech HomePlugAV HL109E is 4.5W (based on paper specs)
  
• Running it all month will give consume 3.285kWh (4.5W x 730hr /1000)
• At the current electricity price of $0.1803/kWh, monthly electricity bill will increase by $0.59
• Over the course of a year, I will need to spend $7 to maintain 1 point.
• Assuming I have 6 points in my house, that will be $42 a year!

Not cheap but still quite affordable considering that we are talking about six devices that are always on.

However, compare this with a 8 port LAN switch such as the Netgear GS108 whose paper specs say a maximum power consumption of 4.92W which works out to be just $7.70 a year for eight devices!

Hmm.. Looks like I will still be insisting that a wired Ethernet network infrastructure be one of the key requirements in my next house!

Tips for extending the range of your wireless coverage at home

If you are using a wireless router like WRT54G as a secondary AP to extend the wireless coverage in your home, here are a few things that you should take note of:

1. Use the same SSID, encryption type and shared key as your primary wireless router so that you can roam between the APs transparently.
2. Use a different channel on your secondary AP if it is in range of the primary no matter how weak the signal is so that you have less interference between your own APs. If possible, use channels as far a part as possible (e.g. 1 and 11).
3. Disable the WAN settings. Optionally, turn the WAN port into a LAN port.
4. Disable the DHCP services.
5. Set the IP of the WAP to a static IP. Remember that it has to be unique and be in the same subnet as the rest of your network (no reason to use a separate subnet unless you have lots of networked devices or special network zoning/security requirements). [TIP: set your DHCP server on your primary wireless router to allocate IPs in a range say 100 - 254. Then you can safely use the IPs from 2 -99 assuming that 1 is already used by your primary wireless router.]
6. Set the gateway IP to that of your primary wireless router.
7. Set the DNS IP to that of your primary wireless router or your ISP's DNS servers.
8. Change the router mode from gateway to router since you no longer need NAT, Firewall and port forwarding services. (can save some CPU cycles and device memory from doing so)

Note that the above tips are only valid if your secondary AP is backed by a wired network. i.e. It is connected to the primary wireless router either via direct Ethernet cables (LAN to LAN port and do use a crossover cable if your ports do not have auto-MDIX feature) or via HomePlugs.

Another way of hooking up the access points is via Wireless Distribution System aka WDS. In this approach, the secondary AP acts as both a wireless repeater for the primary AP as well as an AP for wireless clients (i.e. your laptop).

WDS is cheaper to implement and less messy as it does not require a wired backbone. But do note that your network throughput will generally be halved, latency will increase slightly and the placement of the secondary AP is restricted to locations in range of the primary AP. And lastly, to use this approach, you will most likely need to use a wireless device capable of flashing to third party firmwares like Tomato, DD-WRT or OpenWRT.

Using all 5 ports of a WRT54G for LAN?

If you are not using a WRT54G as a gateway (i.e. solely as a LAN switch and/or WAP and/or WDS), you can convert the WAN port on the router to a LAN port and have five wired devices connecting to your LAN via the wired ports on the WRT54G instead of four!

To work this magic, you will first need to flash the WRT54G to a third party firmware (e.g. tomato) that allows you to telnet into the box.

Once you have done that, telnet into the box and issue the following commands:

• nvram set vlan0ports="0 1 2 3 4 5*"
• nvram set vlan1ports="5"
• nvram commit
• reboot

Now you can use your WAN port to uplink to your core switch or gateway and keep the four LAN ports free for your other devices!

Finally found a cheap solution to extending my wireless coverage on level 3!

Recently, I discovered just how cheap it is to finally fixed the lack of wireless coverage at the top floor of my home... at just S$30! The solution? A second hand WRT54G v2.2 wireless router running Tomato configured as a secondary AP.

Originally, I had wanted to run it in WDS mode but realized that I have a problem with placement (its out of reach from my primary AP signal) and didn't like the fact that throughput will be halved.

Luckily, I have a HomePlug network in place hence I just replaced the LAN switch in my study with the WRT54G now doubling as the LAN switch plus secondary AP hooked into the home network via the HomePlug. (Configuration details of my WRT54G can be found here.)

There are plenty of used WRT54G wireless routers for sale on local forum marketplaces like HWZ and VR-Zone and S$30 appears to be the going rate. Do note that if you wish to run a third party firmware (like Tomato) on the WRT54G, be sure that you are getting the hardware revisions 1 to 4 only. Anything higher is not supported.

Trying out Tomato on WHR-HP-G54

Back in August, I upgraded the DD-WRT v24 firmware to SP1 on my router as part of routine maintenance. At first, everything seems to work fine but soon I noticed that QoS stopped working; Skype calls were getting dropped, frozen video on receiver side and slow web browsing when BT is running in the background.

I tried a couple of different configurations in QoS, from tweaking the max bandwidth settings to changing classifications and even the packet scheduler type. Nothing worked which pretty much left me with two choices; (1) rollback to the older version or (2) try out other flavors of alternative firmware. I decided to go with option (2) and try out Tomato since I have been hearing many good feedback on its performance and especially on its QoS reliability.

Upgrading from DD-WRT to Tomato is a breeze. Simply download the Tomato firmware (latest as of this writing is v1.21) and flash it using the DD-WRT web admin GUI. Just remember to make a note of the router password before you flash! (Detailed instructions here)

In under two minutes, I was running Tomato on my router with nearly all settings intact. The only settings that I found to have been lost are:

1. Static DHCP lease
2. WiFi Security (it defaults to none!)
3. QoS (naturally since its implemented differently)
4. WOL
5. Lan domain name

Once I have configured QoS, I tried a web download and also surfed a couple of local websites while starting BT in the background. I found no noticeable decrease in the download and web surfing experience. Problem solved!

Of course, there is no perfect ending in the real world... A couple of things I had to give up for choosing Tomato over DD-WRT:

1. VPN Gateway - The official builds do not offer this functionality but a quick google showed that there are people working on unofficial builds that included this feature. I will probably give that a spin once I am happy with stock features.
   
2. Bluetooth Compatibility Mode - I require this feature as my router sits very close to my HTPC which I'm using a bluetooth keyboard to control. Since WiFi and Bluetooth work on the same frequency band, I have been experiencing frequent dropouts from my bluetooth keyboard when WiFi is on. Activating this feature on the DD-WRT seems to have reduced the interference quite abit. Since Tomato does not include this feature, I may have to consider relocating my router or my bluetooth receiver.
   

Home network topology recap

Back when I started exploring options for home networking, I pretty much concluded that WiFi was the best option, or rather the only cost effective solution for me at that point in time. (*) I was up and running very quickly as all it took was to setup the router (I had an existing 802.11g device) in a suitable location (I have it in the living room) and configure the clients for access (a PC in level 2 master bedroom, and a laptop that is floating).

However, the results was less than satisfactory; I had large dead zones and weak spots all over the house. My PC (in level 2 bedroom) could only connect at 2-5Mbps stable and my laptop failed to connect at level 3. Even when I had clear line of sight between the client and the router (my laptop was just sitting on the opposite end of the room from the router), large file transfers to/fro my NAS (which has a direct connection to the router via cat 5e cable) via Windows Explorer would fail at times due to interference from neighouring APs.

In late January, I managed to get hold of a pair of homeplugs for just S$50 as part of the mioTV signup bundle (*) and that fixed my connectivity issue with the level 2 bedroom PC. I am now getting a stable connection at speeds of 80-90Mbps.

I did not stop there as I still needed to have connectivity on level 3. So I upgraded the router to one with MIMO technology, built-in amplifier and high-gain antenna. (*) That did solve the problem somewhat but stable speed at level 3 open areas was still hovering around 5.5Mbps and I still have dead zones in critical areas like my study.

Since the homeplugs are doing a good job, I decided to go hunting for a few more. I also figured that there will be people trying to cash in on the MioTV offer so I can probably get a few cheap. True enough, I found quite a few brand new sets in HWZ marketplace and I managed to grab one set for S$100 earlier this evening. Just for comparison, normal retail sets are going for S$180 at Challenger. At S$50 per connection, it is still alittle on the expensive side but TCO is still lower than the other options.

This pair of homeplugs are being deployed as follows: one is used to hook up the XMBC located in the lvl 3 den and the other will be connected to a 4 port switch in the lvl 3 study serving another PC and the printer.

In summary, my home network now comprises of a core backbone based on 4 homeplugs (real world throughput around 80Mbps), a satellite switch (the 4 port 100baseT switch) in the study and another switch (the 802.11g MIMO WiFi router com 4 port 100baseT switch) in the living room. And lastly, I still have the patchy WiFi coverage for mobility and low bandwidth scenarios.
What's next? Hmm.. maybe explore using directional antenna to extend my WiFi range to the pool so that I can get online while lounging out by the pool :)

DD-WRT TX errors and v24 upgrade

Recently, my wireless router (running DD-WRT v24 RC6) had been experiencing a high number of TX errors (around 10 per sec!). And the weird thing is that I did not even have wireless clients active then. At first I thought it was due to the interference from a new neighborhood WAP that is running on the same channel. But even after I switched away to an unused channel, the TX errors did not go down.

So I pop over to the forums and did a quick search on this topic but unfortunately found nothing helpful. Seeing that the final release version for v24 is out (for just a couple of days actually), I took the plunge and did the upgrade hoping that this will solve the problem.

The process went well and was completed in under 10 mins from the time I started downloading the new firmware to my router back up and running on the new version. Even my old settings remained intact. I'm impressed.

However, the upgrade failed to solve my TX errors problem. The count did drop somewhat (its now happening at a rate of 1-2 errors per min) but it is still happening even when I have no active clients. If anyone has any idea where that is coming from, please drop me a clue. Thanks!

Hooking up MioTV to ST536 via WHR-HP-G54

So far, the only way to get MioTV and the ADSL Internet to play nice together is via one of the two options below:

1. via a single convergence device commonly called the wireless ADSL modem router (like the 2Wire 2700HGV2) which combines the functions of ADSL modem cum wireless access point (WAP) cum router features (some include VoIP features as well)
2. via three separate devices; a ADSL modem, a network switch and a wireless router (which essentially is a WAP cum router cum 4 port LAN switch).

In the first configuration, you plug both the phone line and the set-top box (and other wired PCs if any) to the ADSL modem router and you are done. Pictorially, it looks something like this:

phone <> wireless ADSL    <> set-top box
line      modem router    <> PC
                          <> PC

Simple and convenient. Will probably sit well with non-techie home users who want minimum fuss.

However, if you are fussy over which modem/router/WAP to use or if you already have one or more of those devices and do not wish to junk them, then option 2 appears to be the only way to go. In this configuration, the telephone line goes to the ADSL modem, the modem then gets connected to the switch together with the set-top box and wireless router and finally, your wired PCs to the end of the router. The connection diagram will look something like this:

phone <> ADSL  <> network <> set-top box
line     modem    switch  <> wireless router <> PC
                                             <> PC

Pretty complicated and you have to waste a network switch (which usually comes in minimum four ports but you never use more than two) in between.

The good news is that there is now a third option that gets rid of the network switch. You simply need to get a wireless router that is capable of customising one of the LAN ports to become a switched WAN port. With it, the connection diagram becomes:

phone <> ADSL  <> wireless <> set-top box
line     modem     router  <> PC
                           <> PC

Here's my setup that supports this configuration.

1. Get a wireless router (i.e. Buffalo WHR-HP-G54) that supports this configuration
2. Change the stock firmware to DD-WRT
3. Connect up all the devices as shown above (make a note on which LAN port the set-top box is connected to, in my case, it was port no 4)
4. telnet into wireless router
5. run the following command sequence (take note where no 4 appears)
   nvram set vlan0ports="1 2 3 5*"
   nvram set vlan1ports="0 4 5"
   nvram commit
   reboot
6. If you are not using port 4 to connect to your set-top box, you will need to change the numbers accordingly. e.g. if you are using port 3, then the commands become:
   nvram set vlan0ports="1 2 4 5*"
   nvram set vlan1ports="0 3 5"
   nvram commit
   reboot
7. And you are done!

Flashing WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT

Flashing the WHR-HP-G54 WiFi router with DD-WRT turned out to be a five mins job:

1. Download the firmware (I used DD-WRT v24 RC6.2 VPN version)
2. Restore the router to factory settings (using the web console interface is the easiest)
3. Physically connect the PC and router together with one Ethernet cable
4. Prepare the PC for connection (setting the static IP 192.168.11.2 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0)
5. Send the firmware to the router using TFTP during the router's bootup window (this is the tricky part)
6. If successful, the router will reboot and you can then access the new web console at IP 192.168.1.1 using the username "root" and default password "admin". Remember to reset your PC's LAN settings to DHCP first!

Detailed steps for flashing the WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT can be found here. For details on DD-WRT and what you can do with it, look here. For details on DD-WRT for WHR-HP-G54, look here.

Router upgrade project

My aging DI-524 had to go for the following reasons:

1. I was having really patchy WiFi connectivity on the second level at less than 5mbps stable and near zero signal on the third.
2. The LAN ports cannot be configured as switched WAN port for my MioTV connection to work.
3. It does not come with VPN gateway feature for road warrior access.
4. It does not do WPA2 for WiFi security. (lesser concern but heck, I needed more reasons)

To address point 1, I could have extended my WiFi coverage by installing an additional Wireless Repeater or another Wireless Access Point (WAP) connected to my router via HomePlug. Both options however, are more costly to implement compared to upgrading the DI-524 to a MIMO based 802.11g WiFi router.

Oh, and 802.11n is out too as both router and adapters (all my client machines will have to upgrade to 802.11n capable WiFi adapters) are very expensive at this point hence making it the most costly option.

My choice of replacement is really limited due to the fact that I want to run DD-WRT on it. It boils down to a second-hand Linksys WRT54G (newer versions that are available for sale over retail channels are not compatible due to changes in hardware architecture) or a new Buffalo WHR-HP-G54. I chose the latter (only S$99!) for its built-in amplifier which technically should help to reduce the number of dead-zones in the house.

Now that the easy part is over, its time to get it set up in my environment:

1. Flashing WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT
2. Setting up MioTV connection
3. Setting up VPN for road warrior access
4. Setting up site-to-site bridged VPN to connect with my parents LAN

MioTV troubles again...

Shucks, setting the ST536v6 in bridged mode just broke my MioTV setup. I've forgotten that I've got the MioTV set-top box connected to the LAN port of my router hence its no longer able to dial the modem directly.

The temporary solution is to place a switch in between the modem and the router. So the configuration then becomes modem, router and MioTV set-top box all connected to the LAN ports of the switch.

The long term solution is to upgrade the DI-524 to a DD-WRT capable WiFi router and configure the LAN port where I've got the MioTV set-top box connected as a switched WAN port. Thankfully, this can be easily factored in to my router upgrade project.

Getting ST536v6 to run in bridged mode

For the curious, I want the ST536v6 to run in bridged mode as I'm about to embark on a router upgrade project. So for a few days now, I've been trying various approaches found on the Internet to get the darn SpeedTouch to run in bridged mode with zero success.

First up was the auto-detect method. In this approach, just connect as usual (i.e. modem to WAN port of router, set PPPoE in router), hard reset the modem. If it don't work the first time, try a few more times. I swear, the last step is part of the instructions and no, its not a joke the Alcatel folks embed in their firmware. Anyways, no joy there.

Next up was the Residential CD method. Note: do not use this approach if you are using the modem for IPTV (i.e. MioTV) access as well. This is because the configuration wizard will remove the IPTV configurations when it writes the new bridged configuration for broadband to the modem! Learned this the hard way as I spent a couple of hours fiddling with the set-top box thinking it was a problem there and I couldn't check the modem configurations as the web admin console is no longer available once the modem is configured in bridged mode.

As luck would have it, just as I was about to give up, I found method 3 - manual configuration via telnet and it works! Yeah! I can finally revert back to using my DI-524 as the router. Here are the steps in making the magic happen. Telnet to your modem using the IP 192.168.1.254. Then just enter the commands in the sequence below.

Oh, if you make a mistake or if you screw up *touch wood!*, simply hard reset the modem by inserting a pin into the reset hole found at the back of the modem and hold it for 10 secs (or until you see the power led alternates between red and green).

Username : Administrator
Password : *********** (this is the serial number of the modem)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             ______  SpeedTouch 5x6
                         ___/_____/\
                        /         /\  6.2.17.5
                  _____/__       /  \
                _/       /\_____/___ \  Copyright (c) 1999-2007, THOMSON
               //       /  \       /\ \
       _______//_______/    \     / _\/______
      /      / \       \    /    / /        /\
   __/      /   \       \  /    / /        / _\__
  / /      /     \_______\/    / /        / /   /\
 /_/______/___________________/ /________/ /___/  \
 \ \      \    ___________    \ \        \ \   \  /
  \_\      \  /          /\    \ \        \ \___\/
     \      \/          /  \    \ \        \  /
      \_____/          /    \    \ \________\/
           /__________/      \    \  /
           \   _____  \      /_____\/
            \ /    /\  \    /___\/
             /____/  \  \  /
             \    \  /___\/
              \____\/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_{Administrator}=>ppp relay
{Administrator}[ppp relay]=>flush
{Administrator}[ppp relay]=>..
{Administrator}[ppp]=>flush
{Administrator}[ppp]=>:eth
{Administrator}[eth]=>flush
{Administrator}[eth]=>:atm
{Administrator}[atm]=>flush
Some ATM interfaces are still in use. Interfaces that are in use cannot be deleted.{Administrator}[atm]=>phonebook
{Administrator}[atm phonebook]=>flush
Some phonebook entries are still in use. Entries that are in use cannot be deleted.{Administrator}[atm phonebook]=>add
name = pvcInternet
addr = 0.100
:atm phonebook add name=pvcInternet addr=0*100
{Administrator}[atm phonebook]=>..
{Administrator}[atm]=>ifaddintf = atmInternet
:atm ifadd intf=atmInternet
{Administrator}[atm]=>ifconfig
intf = atmInternet
[dest] = pvcInternet
[qos] = default
[clp] = 0
[encaps] = llc
[retry] = 10
[fcs] = disabled
[ulp] = mac
:atm ifconfig intf=atmInternet dest=pvcInternet ulp=mac
{Administrator}[atm]=>ifattach
intf = atmInternet
:atm ifattach intf=atmInternet
{Administrator}[atm]=>..
{Administrator}=>eth bridge
{Administrator}[eth bridge]=>ifadd
[brname] =
intf = snbbridge
:eth bridge ifadd intf=snbbridge
{Administrator}[eth bridge]=>ifconfig
[brname] =
intf = snbbridge
[dest] = atmInternet
[portstate] = forwarding
[retry] = 10
[priotag] = 0
[vlan] = default
[prioconfig] = disabled
[ipprec] = disabled
[priority] = 0
[regenprio] = 01234567
[ingressfiltering] = disabled
[acceptvlanonly] = disabled
[mcastfilter] = disabled
[dynvlan] = disabled
[igmpsnooping] = enabled
:eth bridge ifconfig intf=snbbridge dest=atmInternet portstate=forwarding retry=10 priotag=disabled vlan=default prioconfig=disabled ipprec=disabled priority=0regenprio=01234567 ingressfiltering=disabled acceptvlanonly=disabled mcastfilter=disabled dynvlan=disabled igmpsnooping=enabled
{Administrator}[eth bridge]=>ifattach
[brname] =
intf = snbbridge
:eth bridge ifattach intf=snbbridge
{Administrator}[eth bridge]=>:
{Administrator}=>dhcp server config state=disabled
{Administrator}=>saveall
{Administrator}=>exit
Connection to host lost.

Windows Vista and hidden SSID WLAN networks

If you have a Windows Vista PC, and your wireless network does not broadcast its SSID, and you find yourself tearing your hair out because you are having trouble getting on to your wireless network even though you have checked a zillion times that you have the correct client settings, try this:

Go into your wireless router's settings and check "Broadcast SSID" (or uncheck "Do not broadcast SSID") before trying to connect again. Once you have established connection, you can go back into your wireless router's settings to disable the SSID broadcast setting. (which btw is not necessary if your reason for disabling SSID broadcast is security. Look here for a detailed discussion on this topic.)

So far, I had the same experience with three different Vista PCs and two different wireless networks and each time, enabling the SSID broadcast for the initial connection between the Vista PC and the network solved the problem.

Getting MioTV and Internet surfing to play nice

Well, I'm sick of having to manually switch the network cables between my wireless router and the MioTV set-top box to the ST536v6 ADSL modem/router each time I wanted to surf the Internet or watch MioTV respectively. (Look here for the reason why I'm in this predicament.) So I took some time out to check out my options.

The quick and easy way is to shell out for a wireless ADSL modem router like the 2Wire 2700HGV-2. This is the standard triple-play (IPTV, VoIP and Internet surfing) modem provided by SingTel when you choose the wireless modem option. Its not really that expensive given that you can easily find fairly new one on eBay for around S$100. But going with this option means that I will have to junk both my spanking new ST536v6 as well as my trusty DI-524 wifi router.

The poor man's option is to reconfigure the DI-524 as a wireless access point (as compared to its current role as a WAP cum router) and let the ST536v6 be the router instead. Although I personally will prefer to let the DI-524 be the router (it has much better security features) while the ST536v6 play the modem role only. However, getting the latter into bridged mode seems tedious and complicated so I'm giving that thought up for now.

Here are the basic steps to set up the above configuration:

• Plug the ST536v6 into one of the LAN ports on the DI-524
• Plug the MioTV set-top box into another LAN port on the DI-524
• Login to the admin console of the DI-524 (i.e. http://192.168.0.1/ if you did not change its IP previously)
• Disable DHCP
• Change the IP to fall within the subnet of the ST536v6 (e.g. http://192.168.1.1/)
• That's it!

So after nearly a week of cable swapping, I can finally sit back in my couch and enjoy both MioTV and Internet surfing at the same time!

Singtel - not such a smooth operator afterall

I took the opportunity to re-examine my triple play needs recently due to the relocation as well as the fact that the house will be occupied most of the time from here on. Decided to go with Singtel for its cheap 1Mbps Broadband plus its flexible MioTV package (residential line is a given). Also took the opportunity to grab myself a pair of cheap homeplugs under their MioTV promotion (~$50 for a pair of Homeplug AV!). I thought I had it all planned out until the MioTV installer came today.

First bad news. The package does not come with a HDMI cable! What? You can't even throw in a cheap brandless HDMI cable that cost less than $30!? Ok, so I settled for the lesser component video and separate audio plugs (contributing to my cable mess along the way).

Second bad news. Apparently, going with the standard Ethernet modem package (since I already have a wireless router, I did not choose the more expensive wireless modem) means you cannot watch MioTV and get online at the same time! WTF?! According to the technician who did the install, its because of bandwidth issues. Yeah right. A quick search on Google shows that it is technically possible... but just a lot of tweaking and configuration to be done (i.e. setting the modem in bridge mode, configuring the PPoE settings in the wireless router, etc).

Why am I pissed? Well, because I expected to be told about such a big issue/limitation as (2) at the point when I sign up/choose the package. Not a week later when I can no longer switch packages. So now, if I want a fuss free solution, my only option is to buy an "approved" wireless modem thus rendering my 1 week old ADSL modem useless. Otherwise, I will have to waste time trying out the various "fixes" that's floating around the Internet. Sigh... what joy...

No Gigabit Network!! Argg....

Shucks.... My contractor just called and told me that the house does not appear to have a riser and there are too many beams and columns to run the concealed cables between levels. Its either all exposed trunking or nothing at all. Bummer. This is bad news indeed...

Gigabit backbone for the house!

Ok. So I've explored various options of home networking setup for my new house but they either don't meet my needs fully (WiFi, HomePlug) or are not available for purchase in retail shops (HomePNA).

Given that I have to repaint the entire house due to wear and tear (the house is seven years old) plus the color combi used by the previous owners was really aweful (more of the latter than former actually), I took the plunge to get my house wired up for Gigabit Ethernet. This is going to cost me some $2k for just 7 network points around the house. Not cheap but at least I no longer have to worry about bandwidth for the next couple of years.

For cable type, I've selected Cat 5e rather than Cat 6 due to cost reasons since there is minimal difference between the two. Initially, I had wanted to prepare for the next gen network (aka 10GBaseT which is supposed to go mainstream in the next 5 years, so I'm told) since I'm unlikely to want to relay cables anytime soon. But that requires the use of Cat 6a type which costs yet another premium.

Well, now that the backbone architecture has been decided, its time to start sourcing for a couple of Gigabit switches and NICs for my PCs!

HomePlug, HomePNA or WiFi?

You know you have a problem when you find out that your new house does not come equipped with an Ethernet cabling infrastructure. And you know you have a bigger problem when your house span a few levels. *sigh*

So what are my options? Well, I can take the opportunity to wire up the house before I move in but this is a very costly option due to the amount of hacking and cable laying involved. Alternatively, I can go with something less destructive such as wireless or "no new wires" technologies.

WiFi is a wireless technology that seems attractive at first as it gives me the most flexibility in terms of equipment placement. In real life however, I will have to watch out for weak spots and dead zones created by thick walls and other obstructions. In addition, I will have to invest in additional AP/range extenders to cover all 4 floors. To make matters worse, wifi is prone to signal pollution from other 2.4GHz devices around the house (like your cordless phone, baby monitor, bluetooth devices, microwave oven, and most likely, your neighbour's AP) resulting in degraded performance and dropped connections. Obviously not practical when one of the primary usage of my home network is for video and audio streaming from my central media library (located in my level 3 study) to the various networked media players spread all around the house (furthest being the basement).

A HomePlug network falls into the "no new wires" category as it works over existing power lines. This is especially useful since multiple power sockets can be found in every room of the house. Considering that most of my networked equipment have to be plugged into a power socket, this approach is indeed convenient. Now comes the bad news. Firstly, the adaptor has to be plugged directly to a wall socket as extension cords and surge protectors will interfere with the high frequency signals used by HomePlug. Secondly, they don't come cheap at almost $120 per adapter. Lastly, and most importantly, although the latest specs HomePlug AV allows for speed up to 200 Mbps, reviews (here and here) showed that real word performance is way below that presumably because of the cabling as well as the signal quality which is seldom clean (i.e. spikes (sudden rises in energy), surges (prolonged overvoltages), and brownouts (prolonged undervoltages)) due to heavy duty home appliances such as air conditioners, fridge, vacuum cleaners, etc.

A HomePNA network is in the same class as the HomePlug network except that it works over existing phone lines rather than power lines. Luckily for me, my new place has not one but two phone jacks (independent lines) in every room, including living and basement. Although the technology itself can co-exist with voice and data (i.e. fax and even DSL) traffic, I get to setup a completely isolated network just for the LAN. With the latest standard HPNA 3.1 introducing a theoretical speed limit of 320 Mbps, this will indeed be my top choice (barring gigabit Ethernet of course). The bad news? Well, apparently, there aren't many backers of this technology and the few vendors who are (like 2Wire, Motorola, Conexant) only offer them via service providers (such as AT&T) and not in the retail market. I was hoping to find a few resale units on ebay but I was out of luck there too. Damn.

So until I find a supplier for some HomePNA adapters, I guess I will have to live with the patchy wifi. :(