Complicated home wiring, unusable HomePlug network

[rickmbari]

I need to get a reliable, high speed connection from my cable modem (in the house) to my home studio (in the detached garage). I purchased a NetGear HomePlug LAN extender. The distance form the house to the garage is maybe 100 or 150 feet; the HomePlug system is supposed to deliver gigabit speeds at 300 yards, but I get a marginal connection at best, often no connection, between the two ends.

Most of the house (including the head end of the HomePlug setup) is on a standby generator with an automatic transfer switch. The garage is not on the transfer switch; there is a 100 amp circuit off the main electrical panel in the house, which goes to the electrical in the garage. Both ends of the HomePlug system are plugged directly into the wall. There are no AFCI breakers involved, as far as I can tell. So the path from the house to the garage goes something like this:

device - wall outlet - generator panel - transfer switch - house panel - garage panel - wall outlet - device.

The documentation that came with the HomePlug equipment suggested trying different outlets at both ends to find the best connection. I've done that, at both ends, and I always get the same result: sometimes a very slow connection, sometimes no connection at all. I'm at a loss as to how to troubleshoot this setup. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

P. S. If HomePlug isn't going to work, what other options do I have? Is there an affordable fiber solution? Thinwire? UTP? Infrared? I could conceivably bury a cable, and I do have available windows with line of sight between the house and garage.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Having a generator with a simple transfer switch I don't think you having one should make any difference as connection are all made through mechanical make or break switches.

Now if you have load shedding modules installed to drop certain high power circuits I suppose it is possible that they could introduce some noise/interference that might be causing your problem.

What I would be checking is the polarity correct and the same at both ends of the run to the garage i.e are the outlets in the garage wired correctly, what voltage are you seeing in the garage and finally if you are comfortable working your main main panel disconnect the wires from the 100 amp breaker and check the resistance of each of the individual wires going to the garage.

If you can't get the powerline working then a wireless bridge between the main house and the garage is an option if you don't want to run an Ethernet cable which for just 100' feet isn't that hard unless you have driveways and sidewalks in your way.

 

[L&LD]

If burying a cable is a possibility, and you do this properly too (i.e. to 'code'), do it.

You can dig the trench yourself, get neighborhood kids to help, etc., to keep the costs down. But you will be much further ahead (and (possibly) even save money too vs. other options that will also be prone to interference on their own).

Return the PLA and start digging.