The whole thing is layered into multiple levels (go check the OSI Model and its Layers on Wikipedia if you’re willing to go down that specific information hole ;)) and the physical layer should mainly be handling packet loss on the connection between those adaptors, transparently to the higher layers that just see that as lower bandwidth than the spec for the adaptors (a spec which is really quite optimistic, IMHO).
Yeah, a cable with a metal sheaf wired to the GND level (i.e. Cat cable) is going to be way better at higher frequencies and at isolation from noise that two twisted copper wires were the network signal is shared with a different “signal” which whilst generally 50/60Hz (depending on country) can have spikes and noise at other frequencies, so it’s never going to be the same.
However for example at home right now I can get a reliable 100 Mbit/s over a pair of those adaptors from my router to my PC and the speed limitation is actually (I believe) from my old router not supporting Gigabit Ethernet rather than from the adaptors which are supposed to handle up to 500 Mbit/sec.
That said and as somebody pointed out, it only works well if the plugs you’re connecting are on the same electrical network, as transversing coils isn’t exactly great for high frequency signals.
it only works well if the plugs you’re connecting are on the same electrical network, as transversing coils isn’t exactly great for high frequency signals.
What does “electrical network” mean? Panel? Circuit?
If two plugs are connected to different circuit breakers, then they’re in different “electrical networks” in this sense: basically for a signal to go from one such plug to the other one it has to transverse both circuit breakers and that means going through coils.
Coils are inductors, which are electrical elements which have have frequency dependent resistance (in simple terms), with the higher the frequency of a signal the more the resistance they offer to the passing of a signal, and the higher the bandwidth of your data connection the higher the frequency of the signal(s) necessary to transport that data.
Yeah, in my own language’s the name for it literally translates to “electric circuit” (whilst the other is “electronic circuit”).
It’s just that after learned some stuff about home electrics (my father even worked as an electrician) I went down the direction of Electronics (even got an EE Degree), then learned English to quite some depth (including 12 years in Britain) and somehow never really had to use the proper term in English for an Electric Circuit so it just didn’t pop in my mind when looking for the right expression, even though once you replied back with the proper terminology it immediatelly sounded familiar to me.
I’ve spent so many years abroad and learned so many technical terms in english in other domains that sometimes I even have the reverse problem of not knowing my own language’s terminology for it whilst knowing the english one.
It definitely can be finicky. I had a portable ac that completely killed the power line ethernet connection when it ran. And my current house I have it in i use from where my router is to where my main TV is and it is unreliable even without that AC unit. So it definitely depends on the circumstances.
Have you ever paid attention to packet loss?
Honest question, because I’m an electrician and Ethernet is so fickle, I’ve always assumed it would play hell on the overall quality.
The whole thing is layered into multiple levels (go check the OSI Model and its Layers on Wikipedia if you’re willing to go down that specific information hole ;)) and the physical layer should mainly be handling packet loss on the connection between those adaptors, transparently to the higher layers that just see that as lower bandwidth than the spec for the adaptors (a spec which is really quite optimistic, IMHO).
Yeah, a cable with a metal sheaf wired to the GND level (i.e. Cat cable) is going to be way better at higher frequencies and at isolation from noise that two twisted copper wires were the network signal is shared with a different “signal” which whilst generally 50/60Hz (depending on country) can have spikes and noise at other frequencies, so it’s never going to be the same.
However for example at home right now I can get a reliable 100 Mbit/s over a pair of those adaptors from my router to my PC and the speed limitation is actually (I believe) from my old router not supporting Gigabit Ethernet rather than from the adaptors which are supposed to handle up to 500 Mbit/sec.
That said and as somebody pointed out, it only works well if the plugs you’re connecting are on the same electrical network, as transversing coils isn’t exactly great for high frequency signals.
What does “electrical network” mean? Panel? Circuit?
If two plugs are connected to different circuit breakers, then they’re in different “electrical networks” in this sense: basically for a signal to go from one such plug to the other one it has to transverse both circuit breakers and that means going through coils.
Coils are inductors, which are electrical elements which have have frequency dependent resistance (in simple terms), with the higher the frequency of a signal the more the resistance they offer to the passing of a signal, and the higher the bandwidth of your data connection the higher the frequency of the signal(s) necessary to transport that data.
So electrical network == circuit, got it.
I learned this stuff in a different language so don’t really know the right terminology in English.
Also I’m from the Electronics side, so for me a “circuit” is something quite different ;)
Ah, in home electrical, a circuit generally means the same thing as electronics, but at 120V and around 15A (in North America).
Yeah, in my own language’s the name for it literally translates to “electric circuit” (whilst the other is “electronic circuit”).
It’s just that after learned some stuff about home electrics (my father even worked as an electrician) I went down the direction of Electronics (even got an EE Degree), then learned English to quite some depth (including 12 years in Britain) and somehow never really had to use the proper term in English for an Electric Circuit so it just didn’t pop in my mind when looking for the right expression, even though once you replied back with the proper terminology it immediatelly sounded familiar to me.
I’ve spent so many years abroad and learned so many technical terms in english in other domains that sometimes I even have the reverse problem of not knowing my own language’s terminology for it whilst knowing the english one.
It definitely can be finicky. I had a portable ac that completely killed the power line ethernet connection when it ran. And my current house I have it in i use from where my router is to where my main TV is and it is unreliable even without that AC unit. So it definitely depends on the circumstances.
I used ehternof power for many years and although I didn’t look at packet loss I never had a problem with it.