Power line hack — convert power line adapter to 2-wire ethernet adaptor

 The problem

A technical outbuilding is located 300m next to the main house. Unfortunately, no ethernet cable or fibre was installed between the two buildings, but a phone line between the two buildings is existing. We investigated several solutions to connect the outbuilding to the main house’s ethernet. There exist several ethernet–2-wire–ethernet bridges, but they cost several hundreds of euros. To maximize the cost-benefit ratio we should get more creative.

The idea

A normal power line ethernet adapter modulates its signal on the power line. Can we tap that signal and apply it on a regular 300m long 2-wire phone line?

The execution

We bought two power line adapters (technically they are bridges) from MSI: MSI ePower 500HD Kit Home-Plug (500 Mbit/s, 2x Ethernet RJ-45)

 

 

 

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The conclusion

For more than several months the hacked power line adaptors have been working very well, and they still do.