Kevin Connolly Posted June 6 Posted June 6 I first did a search of both the Insteon site and here to see if I could find any information with regard to what band of frequencies the PLM operates on the power lines. I haven't seen anything. The reason I'm asking is that I'm investigating powerline adapters for ethernet and don't want any issues of harmful interference with PLM signals. As I have researched so far powerline adapters operate from 0 - 60Mhz. If anyone knows or has experience trying to use a powerline adapter and a PLM on the same power lines, let me know. Thanks
vbPhil Posted June 6 Posted June 6 I'm running a pair of D-Link powerline adapters in the same room, on the same circuit. They are on either side of the room so I can get a network connection to a TiVo Mini. It was a struggle to get a fast enough network connection to the Mini. I have a MOCA connection in the adjacent room, ran a network cable through the wall to the one powerline adapter and then the other powerline adapter across the room at the Mini. I first tried a powerline adapter across the house at the router, but the signal gets too attenuated by the time it reached the Mini's room and TiVo kept dropping out. From Amazon: D-Link Powerline Adapter Pass Through Extender Ethernet Over Power Gigabit AV2 Up to 2000Mbps MIMO Internet Network Plug in (DHP-P701AV) There's a D-Link PLC Utility that runs in Windows that shows the powerline adapter connections and speed. I'm currently getting 1024 Mbps between the two. Also, to answer your question, I haven't seen any negative effects on the Insteon devices in and around the room or house.
Kevin Connolly Posted June 6 Author Posted June 6 Thanks for the reply! I thought about MoCA for about a half second. I have a total of 4 jacks in the house but only one is on the same leg as the Optimum modem....so that's a nonstarter. As for powerline adapters, it's pleasant news that I have a shot of this working. The other thing I'd like to know is if Signalinc will pass the internet signal, as well as the Insteon signal, across phases. Otherwise how are you passing the internet across phases?
vbPhil Posted June 6 Posted June 6 6 minutes ago, Kevin Connolly said: Otherwise how are you passing the internet across phases? My powerline adapters are on the same phase. in fact, they are even on the same circuit just opposite sides of the room. My powerline adapters are located in probably the best condition ever. They are on the same electrical wire, probably 35 feet long and still I'm only getting half their rated speed. When I tried having the network connected adapter across the house, I was getting less than 250 Mbps on a good day. I never considered that they could have been on opposite phases. At one time I had up to 4 powerline adapters running but the speeds were just too slow and intermittent so I switched to MOCA where I could. I see that you can get a pair of the ones I have on Amazon for $23. You could pick them up, try them, and if they don't work, send them back.
Kevin Connolly Posted June 6 Author Posted June 6 I think I might do that. Thanks for the help. If anyone knows the answer to the Signalinc question jump in. Ha
Geddy Posted June 6 Posted June 6 @Kevin Connolly you might want to also ask on the Insteon forums or ask Insteon support directly since the PLM is their product. You might also want to try a Google site search to dig deeper on these forums. The search function on the forums only finds “current” posts. Once older topics are auto archived only Google site search seems to find them.
Kevin Connolly Posted June 6 Author Posted June 6 @Geddy I sent an email to Insteon earlier this morning as well.....that said, this site has some of the best Insteon Geeks on the planet. 1
Geddy Posted June 6 Posted June 6 @Kevin Connolly hopefully Insteon can let you know. I’m not sure if it was anything people might have thought about in the past. I’d say if anybody might have such information is might be @Brian H or @IndyMike as they are very experienced with the inner workings of the devices. If you do get a reply with the info please be sure to post here to let us know and to have it available should others ever need to search for such information.
IndyMike Posted June 6 Posted June 6 4 hours ago, Kevin Connolly said: I first did a search of both the Insteon site and here to see if I could find any information with regard to what band of frequencies the PLM operates on the power lines. I haven't seen anything. The reason I'm asking is that I'm investigating powerline adapters for ethernet and don't want any issues of harmful interference with PLM signals. As I have researched so far powerline adapters operate from 0 - 60Mhz. If anyone knows or has experience trying to use a powerline adapter and a PLM on the same power lines, let me know. Thanks @Kevin Connolly - The direct answer to your question is the PLM transmits on the powerline @131.65 KHz I have not personally used Insteon alongside Powerline Networking. The DHP-P701AV that @vbPhil posted appears to use Homeplug AV2. It's rather high frequency. Wikipedia indicates that Homeplug has carriers from 2Mhz to 30 Mhz. The AV2 version is higher still. Being a minimum of 15x higher in frequency, the AV2 should not interfere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug Interestingly, Homeplug transmits on the neutral connector. That means there should be no issues with communicating with devices on both electrical phases (they share the common neutral). It also means that if you do encounter an issue, traditional filters will not work. A quick google does not show issues between the two: https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/homeseer-products-services/general-discussion-area/65338-insteon-powerline-av-homeplug 3
Kevin Connolly Posted June 6 Author Posted June 6 @IndyMike That's exactly the information I was looking for. Looks like I might have a shot at making this work. Thanks In the last house, I had gone to great pains to run cat6 to all my access points. I don't have that luxury in this house and I'm hoping, if the end through put is acceptable, that this will be a solution
Brian H Posted June 7 Posted June 7 (edited) Just some extra information. The RF frequency is 915MHz. 120V 60Cy. The more universal one with better specifications seems to have vanished. Even though it was as far as an FCC Database entry. Edited June 7 by Brian H Add something. 1
Kevin Connolly Posted June 7 Author Posted June 7 @Brian H Thanks! I also asked Insteon support. they responded and said: Insteon is 120 Khz on the powerline and 915 Mhz on the Radio Frequency. In the past we have tested these tope of video and Ethernet over the powerline and they did not interfere with the Insteon signal. So, i think I'm good to go.
PinchRoller Posted June 7 Posted June 7 3 hours ago, Kevin Connolly said: Insteon is 120 Khz on the powerline and 915 Mhz on the Radio Frequency. Great conversation and thinking about other plug-in devices! Sight correction and possibly irrelevant update to Kevin's spec. For the powerline, the carrier current is operating at 131.5kHz. The RF frequency for the US and Canada is just like Kevin mentioned; 915MHz.
Brian H Posted June 8 Posted June 8 (edited) Insteon's own Details White Paper and many of their full users manuals. Says 131.65 kHz power line carrier frequency! 120kHz is the X10 frequency. That the PLM and many of the older Insteon modules would also accept. Edited June 8 by Brian H Add information 1
paulbates Posted June 8 Posted June 8 (edited) <<Slow, creaking sound of the fileshare crypt door opening>> Here is the Insteon White paper. Scroll to page 19 to see Power Line RF 131.65 KHz carrier vs various international over-the-air frequencies insteoncompared.pdf Edited June 8 by paulbates 2
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