Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Customising, building or repairing your own gear? Need help with acoustic treatment or soundproofing? Ask away…

Moderator: Moderators

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by Fishnish »

Hugh Robjohns wrote:They were TP-Link TL-PA4030 500Mbps powerline adapters. I wouldn't use TP-Link units again...

We currently have a box full of the last 2 decades worth of broken and obsolete telecom and internet bits + bobs waiting to go the tip. I notice one brand is particularly well represented in it. Buy cheap buy twice and all that.

ConcertinaChap wrote:I don't use powerline now, I eventually went to hard wiring the house. Real wire is always best if you can do it, faster and problem free and a cable can be up to 100m long so distance is not a problem. Having said that, if you must go powerline then when I did use it I standardised on Solwise kit and had decent problem-free performance.
CC

I'm looking into hard wiring as a best option. Of course, it would have been easier if we'd thought of it of it whilst initially configuring the extension wiring a few years back! Failing that, it seems as though a powerline setup might work ok as an option B. It's a relatively cheap and easy option to investigate anyway.

Thanks everyone for the useful technical info and advice.
User avatar
Fishnish
Regular
Posts: 228 Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:00 am

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by James Perrett »

I don't quite understand why you need to connect to your router. All you need is a network switch to go between the computer and the Tegeler Creme RC. You will need to assign static IP addresses to both devices though. If you don't want to assign IP addresses manually you could use an old spare router as both a switch and a DHCP server - the DHCP server will automatically give each device an IP address.

Powerline adaptors don't usually cause interference at audio frequencies but short wave listeners hate them.
User avatar
James Perrett
Moderator
Posts: 14250 Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2001 12:00 am Location: The wilds of Hampshire
JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration. JRP Music Facebook Page

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by Fishnish »

James Perrett wrote:I don't quite understand why you need to connect to your router. All you need is a network switch to go between the computer and the Tegeler Creme RC. You will need to assign static IP addresses to both devices though. If you don't want to assign IP addresses manually you could use an old spare router as both a switch and a DHCP server - the DHCP server will automatically give each device an IP address.

Powerline adaptors don't usually cause interference at audio frequencies but short wave listeners hate them.

TBH I'd rather not have it connected to the router full time. I've tried setting it up manually both with a switch and without, using the info supplied from Tegeler, but can't get the plugin to recognise the static IP address. Could certainly try using an old router rather than a switch though.
User avatar
Fishnish
Regular
Posts: 228 Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:00 am

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by Folderol »

James Perrett wrote: Powerline adaptors don't usually cause interference at audio frequencies but short wave listeners hate them.

Exactly!
The things crap all over long established and well used bands. Personally I won't touch them with a barge pole. The alternatives might be slightly less convenient, but will be much better in every possible respect.
User avatar
Folderol
Jedi Poster
Posts: 18066 Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 12:00 am Location: The Mudway Towns, UK
Yes. I am that Linux nut {apparently now an 'elderly'}
Onwards and... err... sideways!

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by n o i s e f l e ur »

What IP address does the Tegeler unit sit on when it's directly connected to the ethernet port on the computer?

Is it perchance something in the range of 169.254.0.0 through 169.254.255.255?
n o i s e f l e ur
Regular
Posts: 424 Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2018 6:20 am

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by Drew Stephenson »

Folderol wrote:
James Perrett wrote: Powerline adaptors don't usually cause interference at audio frequencies but short wave listeners hate them.

Exactly!
The things crap all over long established and well used bands. Personally I won't touch them with a barge pole. The alternatives might be slightly less convenient, but will be much better in every possible respect.

Except where the alternatives don't actually work... ;)
User avatar
Drew Stephenson
Jedi Poster
Posts: 24450 Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:00 am Location: York
(The forumuser formerly known as Blinddrew)
Ignore the post count, I still have no idea what I'm doing...
https://drewstephenson.bandcamp.com/

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by Fishnish »

n o i s e f l e ur wrote:What IP address does the Tegeler unit sit on when it's directly connected to the ethernet port on the computer?

Is it perchance something in the range of 169.254.0.0 through 169.254.255.255?

I'm not in there just now but the number 10.20.30.44 rings a bell
User avatar
Fishnish
Regular
Posts: 228 Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:00 am

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by n o i s e f l e ur »

Hmmmm - not quite the same issue I was thinking of - and probably simpler to fix as a result.

Are you on Windows? Can you do an "ipconfig / all" when it's connected directly to see if its IP address is marked as "preferred"? Or whatever the MacOS equivalent is these days?

It sounds like Tegeler have hard-coded the address into the plugin or whatever helper app (if any) and there's an issue with DHCP afoot.

I think your easiest and cheapest fix here is to install a second NIC and connect the unit directly to the computer. There's really no good reason I can think of to have it reachable from the LAN generally, as per your description.
n o i s e f l e ur
Regular
Posts: 424 Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2018 6:20 am

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by Nazard »

"The things crap all over long established and well used bands. Personally I won't touch them with a barge pole. The alternatives might be slightly less convenient, but will be much better in every possible respect."

I agree, Will and James! I transmit, (have an amateur radio licence), and like many others, weak signal propagation is something I am involved with. I use software defined radio (SDR) very often, and being able to view 10MHz of the spectrum at a time, you can see the ADSL, Powerline and other RF pollutants. Of course OFCOM couldn't care less..................
Nazard
Frequent Poster
Posts: 650 Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 12:00 am

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by Mixedup »

I've been testing a Crème RC and had a similar issue, which turned out to be an error in the otherwise very helpful quick start guide, whereby they printed the IP for a different Tegeler unit. Try incrementally changing the final digit of its IP address, staying in the 40s. So .40 then .41 etc. to establish a connection. (I can't be sure off hand but I think .47 did it for me.)
User avatar
Mixedup
Jedi Poster
Posts: 4548 Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2003 12:00 am Location: Cambridgeshire, UK

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by Fishnish »

Mixedup wrote:I've been testing a Crème RC and had a similar issue, which turned out to be an error in the otherwise very helpful quick start guide, whereby they printed the IP for a different Tegeler unit. Try incrementally changing the final digit of its IP address, staying in the 40s. So .40 then .41 etc. to establish a connection. (I can't be sure off hand but I think .47 did it for me.)

Thanks, I'll give that a try. Was planning to give Tegeler a call today anyway but I'll try that first. I'm also due due speak to my pal the electrician who did the wiring in the studio and find out how all the cable is routed - if it's not too hard to get a network cable through, I might just do it anyway. Notwithstanding the Tegeler issue, It's got to be better than trailing a 100 foot cable across the floor of half the house every time I want to use the internet in the studio.
User avatar
Fishnish
Regular
Posts: 228 Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:00 am

Re: Using powerline adapters for studio network?

Post by ef37a »

Very old buildings often have a vast, continuous loft space. It might therefore be possible to go up from the router, across the ceiling and down into the studio?

An alternative could be to run a cable outside in some 40mm waste pipe to keep the vermin off it? Even on listed buildings I think they allow you plumbing!

Dave.
ef37a
Jedi Poster
Posts: 16448 Joined: Mon May 29, 2006 12:00 am Location: northampton uk
Post Reply