I was trying to move an xbox 360 to a new location, and was attempting to re-use an old Linksys WAP11 as a bridge to our WAP54G.... couldn't get it to work -
After looking at the data stream with our protocol analyzer, it appeared that the ARP's were getting lost, blocked, or dropped somewhere..
OK - plan B - always wanted to try some of those powerline adapters... Found some Netgear XE102 (pair) on eBay - bought it - just plugged them in...
Work great - I also downloaded the manual & User Utility in case they were needed. Was curious about a couple of things - mainly protocol - so... as usual - fired up the protocol analyzer.
Well - these specific devices are using Appletalk to chat out the world with Appletalk broadcasts - every 3secs or so - probably for device & user utility discovery -
Speed - the User Utility displays what speed the "HomePlug" device is running. When they are plugged next to each other - I see the rated 14Mbps. When I move one end to the far side of the house, it drops down to about
3Mbps.
Remember.... these powerline devices are using the AC wires as a electrical path, with a carrier to transmit the data across the wires - sorta like DSL - with your circuit breaker panel acting like the hub - So - 2 rooms next to each other might have to go all the way to the panel & back - vs just going next door.