# 222 and Home Plug



## IndyTim (Nov 11, 2007)

I have a 722 in the great room with direct phone line access in an av closet, and a 222 in the bedroom that I've had to use a wireless phone jack since it's not near a jack, which never seems to work. I've had tech support on the line about it and they've even replaced my receiver, thinking that might be the problem. So I've had to put up with the $5 monthly charge since it doesn't appear like it's connected. I've also tried to get them to waive it since it's obvious I'm not trying to avoid the charge because my other receiver IS connected.
Anyway, I saw this recent information about Home Plug and that both of these receivers are compatible. So today I went to Fry's and bought a Netgear Bridge, plugged it in, connected it to my router, went to my 722 and set it up, no problem, connected!! Did very same to my 222, no connection. Anyone have any ideas why one works, and the 222 just doesn't seem to want to connect to anything??


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

It sounds like you are trying to use the built-in HomePlug, right?

Do you have your 222 receiver connected directly to a wall outlet? There are some surge protectors (or UPS) that say they are HomePlug compatible, but most aren't so you need to plug directly into a wall outlet.

IF you are doing that and it still doesn't work... do you have any kind of whole-house surge protection installed? Those can filter it out too.

If no on that one.. I've heard some folks have issues from one circuit breaker to another. My house seems to be ok with that as I have connections on several different breakers... but that will not always work.

Last, but not least. I've posted before that I've had some issues with the newer HomePlug adapters and the HomePlug 1.0 that is built-in to the ViP receivers. IF that is your problem, you can try using an adapter at the receiver and connect to its ethernet port instead of using the built-in powerline feature of the receiver.


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## IndyTim (Nov 11, 2007)

Yes, I am trying to use the built in Home Plug. I am not using a power strip/surge protector. I do have whole-house surge protection at the meter. Again, not sure why the 722 works when it is physically about 6 feet away from this receiver, other than possibly the circuits are different. But the home is a high quality, custom built and only 2 years old. And it still seems strange that both 222's I've had in this room have had connection issues, both Internet and wireless phone jack. Am wondering if there's something with this receiver type and connection issues.
I know I could use another bridge, but I'm already in for $40 for this one and at $80 in total to primarily get rid of the $5 monthly charge, that's a pretty long ROI.


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## IndyTim (Nov 11, 2007)

Called tech support to see what they had to say. Unfortunately, they really focused on the inability of the receiver to get a phone signal from my wireless jack (which I now think is defective because I can't get the receiver to recognize the base unit), and nothing about why the receiver is not picking up the Home Plug like it should. Frustrating.... I should have just concentrated on the Home Plug problem and not confused it with the phone connection problem.
I've kinda had it with this 222 receiver anyway since I have to reboot it a lot (did with the other one, too). Anyone know how much to exchange it for another 722?


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

IndyTim,

Without being there I can't say for sure... but I don't think the 222 is the problem. I think more likely the problem is cross-communication (or lack thereof) between circuits in your home.

Have you tried swapping rooms with the receivers? If I'm right, then the 722 might not work in that room while the 222 might work in the other.

I suspect the problem could be related to your whole-house surge protection. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm sure I've read about that causing issues for some folks with this kind of technology. Unfortunately to power-conditioners, the internet-over-power looks like signal problems to be smoothed out.

Aside from trying to use adapters at the outlet instead of the built-in HomePlug of the receiver... it may just be that you can't do it in your house. This could be one of those situations where modern improvements renders some function unusable. In some cases it actually ends up being beneficial to not have modern wiring.


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## IndyTim (Nov 11, 2007)

Curious if anyone has successfully connected a 222 to broadband using the internal/built in Home Plug? Recently purchased a Netgear bridge and successfully connected my 722, but the 222 won't connect. It is plugged directly into the wall outlet without a power strip or surge protector and is about 10 feet from the 722, so doubtful it's a circuit problem. Dish documents show that it is compatible, but getting conflicting answers from tech support (like, it has the internal parts, but the software isn't in place!).

Sorry if redudant, I had posted this as a reply to a thread in the Tech and gadgets forum but thought I might get more input on this from 222 users.


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## IndyTim (Nov 11, 2007)

Thanks, Stewart. Too much of a hassle to disconnect all of the AV stuff in the closet and swap out with the 222. I'll just bite the bullet, buy another bridge and connect with an Ethernet cable to see if that works. At least that way I can tell if it's the built in Home Plug that doesn't work or if it's possibly the home wiring.
The thing I don't understand by your comments re: whole house surge protection, is why would the 722 work and the 222 not? This protection is the same in the entire house since it's outside at the meter. Shouldn't matter what outlet it's plugged into.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I don't know how your whole house surge protection works. IF it is just surge protection from the outside to the inside, then I agree with you that it shouldn't make a difference.

But if you have any kind of whole-house line conditioning it could be a problem.

Now... as to why one receiver might work and another might not... Again, just a guess without knowing how your house is wired...

But, if your powerline adapter (the one connected to your router) is plugged into an outlet that is on the same breaker/circuit as the 722, but the 222 is on a different circuit/breaker... that might allow the two devices on the same circuit to communicate with each other but not with the odd man out. That's why I suggested switching receivers to see if the problem stayed with the receiver OR with the room.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

_*Moderation note:*

To avoid repetition of already discussed ideas, I moved IndyTim's problem-specific comments from the Tech forum thread *here* that contains other HomePlug related discussions._


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## IndyTim (Nov 11, 2007)

OK, so I finally found out thru Tech Support chat that while they say that the 222 is Home Plug compatible (definition: to exist and perform in harmonious or agreeable combination), the software has yet to be released. So it really ISN'T compatible; it does EXIST, but it does not PERFORM, neither harmoniously nor agreeably.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Ah... well, that would certainly explain everything.


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## IndyTim (Nov 11, 2007)

However, the TSR did tell me there was a way to get past the $5 for not having phone/Internet connection, and it also saved me money on my total bill. And that is to sign up for DVR advantage. So I did that.

I also signed up to beta test SlingGuide on my newly networked 722. WAY COOL!!! It works great; taped 2 movies overnight scheduled via the Internet.


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