Power line home networking

Does anyone have any experience with using the power outlet for home networking?

I see these on buy.com this week: http://www.buy.com/prod/zyxel-pla-40...tml?adid=17070

I'm wondering what the range of the signal is and how it actually works. My grandparents (their house is just across the street) shares the same meter as me and I'm wondering if I could plug one into an outlet at my house with the network cable connected to the router then plug the other into an outlet at their house with the network cable connected to their computer.

Both of our houses have main feeder lines from the main breaker on the pole connected just after the meter. Here's a diagram:
Attachment 75847
Would the network reach their computer from my router using a power line network like this? Or would it be a waste of money for me to try?

Also does this stuff interfere with other electronics connected? ie would it mess up any appliance in my house, I'd assume not otherwise these things wouldn't be developed and sold.

I'd buy a cheap router and load dd-wrt firmware into it then configure it to be a wireless bridge instead of using the power line adapter.

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Originally Posted by stanav

I'd buy a cheap router and load dd-wrt firmware into it then configure it to be a wireless bridge instead of using the power line adapter.

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Yea, that's an option too, but if a powerline thing would work then it'd achieve the same result for less cost and possibly more security. Right now I don't exactly have the $$ for two routers (dd-wrt able) two cantennas and the network cables w/ a repeater in the middle to make the run through their basement.

in a setup like this, it actually doesn't matter whether it's the same meter. The transformer is the block. While i haven't used internet this way, i have used other devices that transmit data over the wiring. I have a confirmation that it will work in a different building, and in my case we have two different meters. They both come off the same transformer.

Don't mess with those "data over electrical line" systems. They can be really bad for your household electronics. Many things don't like it when you start farting with the 60hz phase of your power.

My personal experience with them was when a buddy got one and within two months, his PS3 dies. Me, being the friend with some electrical engineering under his belt, get brought the unit along with a case of beer with a "can you please fix?" request. I crack it open, test the power system and find a blown diode in the power supply. I replace it. No problem. A week later his DVD player dies and he brings me it as well. Same problem; blown diode in the PSU... that's when I find out about his new Ethernet over powerline kit he bought a few months before.

I've heard plenty of other stories as well from colleges.

Set up a wireless connection or run an Ethernet wire between the two. Routers are cheap. Last router I bought at Best Buy cost me a whopping $20.