Powerline Network problem

[PaddyShack07]

Hello LTT Forum,

 

I recently build myself a computer and was just starting to download drivers. I am using a netgear powerline 1200 because I have no ethernet ports in my room or close by. I have the powerline up and running but my pc doesn't recognize it. Im greeted with the message error that " "Ethernet" doesn't have a valid IP configuration". What should I do to fix this I'm really ready to get this pc up and running. 

[Anghammarad]

you should start form where the network is functioning. Try to access the powerline adapter and take a look at it's configuration, if DHCP forward is enabled. If not, your computer won't get a DHCP lease (ip address) from your router. It could already be that the powerline adapter isn't connecting to the rest of the network. This always depends on the circuits at home as well as devices that my scramble the signals so powerline won't be an option.

 

Then another option would be configuring your home IP Adresses your own, (that's what I do) and just use DHCP for wifi.

 

To completely tell you what to do, due to not knowing the rest of the setup, the advice could rival the size of "war and peace" in pages.

[brwainer]

install the software for your powerline hardware onto your computer. From there you can see the connection status between the "local" powerline adapter, and the rest of the powerline network in the house. If the powerline adapters are having an issue talking to each other, it will show up here. BTW, powerline is an "invisible" technology, as far as ethernet and wifi clients can tell, there is just a switch connecting all the powerline devices together. Therefore, I'm not sure what @Anghammarad means when they are talking about DHCP forward being enabled - I have multiple models from multiple brands and haven't seen any such feature. Powerline equipment handles all broadcast packets (like DHCP) the same as any regular switch would.

 

I tried to find the exact software for you, but could only narrow it down to two possibilities:

Netgear Powerline Utility - https://kb.netgear.com/21606/Powerline-Universal-Utility-v3-1-0-4

Netgear Genie (according to this forum thread, version 2.4.16 and up support the PL1200, if not then you can find and use the equivalent Zyxel software - the powerline adapters use the same chipset and similar firmware - https://community.netgear.com/t5/Powerline-Networking/PL1200-and-PLP1200-Powerline-Utility-Netgear-Genie-issues/td-p/971808) https://www.netgear.com/home/discover/apps/genie.aspx

[Falconevo]

The NetGear units have to have the security key set, you can do this by holding the button down on the top of one of the units for about 10 seconds, then go find the 2nd unit within the next 2 minutes and do the same on the other unit.   You should then get 3 lights green on the HomePlug, failing to configure their encryption key will give you no network between the two or more HomePlug devices.

[brwainer]

7 minutes ago, Falconevo said:

The NetGear units have to have the security key set, you can do this by holding the button down on the top of one of the units for about 10 seconds, then go find the 2nd unit within the next 2 minutes and do the same on the other unit.   You should then get 3 lights green on the HomePlug, failing to configure their encryption key will give you no network between the two or more HomePlug devices.

This is true, although units bought together in a set should already be paired together.

[Falconevo]

23 minutes ago, brwainer said:

This is true, although units bought together in a set should already be paired together.

A family member purchased some recently and they weren't paired out of the box and looked like they came from different batches.

Only took 2 minutes to get it sorted on a phone call, but yes they 'should' be paired from the manufacturer unfortunately some are not.