Powerline ethernet with Mac

September 6, 2006 10:26 AM

I'd like to get internet service from my office (in a renovated garage) into the house. I bought two Belkin powerline ethernet adaptors, but I can't get them to work. Belkin says that they do not support Macs (I have two Macs, no Windows). Has anyone out there used powerline ethernet with Mac?
posted by gteffertz to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Haven't, but the better way would be to go wireless. If they say it doesn't work with a mac, it probably really doesn't work with a mac.
posted by SpecialK at 10:30 AM on September 6, 2006

Yeah, Wireless. Have you got a lot of ground to cover between the two?
posted by handee at 10:57 AM on September 6, 2006

Apparently Netgear also sells powerline networking equipment.

Looking at Belkin's and Netgear's site, I'm guessing that Belkin requires a non-standard IP stack for its encryption (which is not optional), and Netgear does not require it, but offers it as an option. Netgear doesn't say Macs will work, but it also doesn't say they won't, and that Windows is only required for encryption.

Another thing that is interesting to note is that the data rates for powerline networking aren't as good as 802.11g wifi. So I don't see much reason to use it. If you've got one Mac in the house and one in the garage (with a live connection), and both have Airport cards built in, you could simply go into Preferences: Sharing: Internet and turn on Internet sharing.

The other option would be to simply run an Ethernet cable from the garage to the house. I shared an Internet connection with a neighbor for about 5 years this way—we ran a very long cable from house to house, buried it, never had any trouble.
posted by adamrice at 11:42 AM on September 6, 2006

i have the 2nd generation netgear powerline networking devices, and they work with the mac. they should work with anything with an ethernet port.

however, configuring them is a different story. i had to use a windows machine to set the encryption, etc. they might work out of the box with no config, but i cant remember now... regardless i wouldnt recommend running these things without encryption.
posted by joeblough at 1:22 PM on September 6, 2006

Ethernet over power sucks. It is hands down, the worst performing, most gimmicy networking technology of recent accord. Chances are, even if your machines were windows it still wouldn't work. It's almost as if the stars have to align for it to be useable. I'd return it and go wireless. If that's an issue, adamrice's suggest of just running cable will do the job splendidly.
posted by crypticgeek at 1:23 PM on September 6, 2006

Wireless is not an option. I have an adobe house, and the stucco is applied over a chickenwire matrix. I'm somewhat averse to stringing cable, as I'm not sure how to get out of the garage and into the house. Maybe I could follow the telephone cables.
posted by gteffertz at 1:47 PM on September 6, 2006

the first generation devices sucked.

the 2nd generation devices suck less.

i have several 802.11b security cameras and a client laptop on the same wireless network and performance was dismal. also since the laptop is in the kitchen, the microwave would kill the network. i moved the client laptop to powerline networking (2nd gen) and everything is going swimmingly now.

yes, it depends on the quality of the power wiring in your house, but its worth trying.

netgear is claiming 100mbit+ on their 3rd gen. i havent tried this though. the claim for 2nd gen is 80mbit and i'm lucky to get 10mbit out of it, but it is reliable. its worked for 6 months without ever having to powercycle anything.
posted by joeblough at 8:25 PM on September 6, 2006