How does powerline ethernet work in terms of home wiring?

Question

I know that not all power sockets are in the same circuit, they are separated in the fuse box.How does powerline ethernet work across different circuits then?

Depends whether the circuits are on the same phase. – Turbo J Apr 10 '18 at 08:36 — Turbo J, Apr 10 '18 at 08:36
It's powerline network. It's certainly not Ethernet. – Marcus Müller Apr 10 '18 at 11:12 — Marcus Müller, Apr 10 '18 at 11:12

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 10 '18 at 08:37

Since it's all electrically connected together, often it does work, but the manufacturer's instructions will advise against it.

The miniture circuit breakers or RCDs in the fuse box can act as "chokes", suppressing the high-frequency signals used by powerline ethernet.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 10 '18 at 22:20

There are a few things that determine the distance between powerline adapters. 1) Noise on the powerline
2) Distance between wires

With a powerline network there are no guarantees. It can be difficult to know what the 'range' of the network is because the distance is determined by the wiring of the building. In almost every building (maybe not older buildings, which could have multiple panels before codes were well established) the circuits go back to a central panel. The signal of the powerline adapter needs to travel back through the panel if the powerline adapters are not on the same circuit. If there are other electrical devices that inject noise then this can reduce bandwidth (or stop communication) between devices.

In my experience in trying this in a few buildings, there is a max distance that can't be exceeded which is hard to determine. There were some breaker circuits that I could get to talk to each other, and some that I couldn't, and if you exceeded the distance then the powerline adapters could not establish communications with each other.

How does powerline ethernet work across different circuits then?

If the noise and impedance of the line allows communication then the devices can talk to each other. Think of it like this: electrical circuits of a building function like an antenna, but the 'radios' are each connected to the 'antenna'

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 11 '18 at 05:38

It seems like your confusion is based on an assumption that different home circuits at some point have no electrical connection.

In most cases, everything meets back up at either the breaker panel or the transformer outside your home. Your home common/ground is a center tap of the transformer.

Performance may be effected by being on different halves of the panel, but there is still a signal path available.

Further detail and image source here.

How does powerline ethernet work in terms of home wiring?

3 Answers3