NETWORKING QUESTION - So I bought this powerline network adapter to feed internet to my desktop i...

[G+_Mark Messiha]

NETWORKING QUESTION - So I bought this powerline network adapter to feed internet to my desktop in my basement, one floor below where the router is. When I first got it I could get about 45-55 Mbps at the basement and about 75-80Mbps wireless right next to the router. Now it's coming in around 20-25Mbps.

 

The router is an older one, maybe 3 - 4 years old so I don't know if it has succumbed to wear and tear or if something else is affecting my network. Maybe the powerline adapters degrade over time (1.5 years old) or something? I don't know. Any ideas?

 

Thanks!

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122673

[G+_Aaron Rhoades]

Any new appliances on that circuit? Mine slows down or stops if something else is drawing power from the same circuit.

[G+_Mark Messiha]

Aaron Rhoades not really. Maybe a lamp or two but they've been there all along.

[G+_Golden Retriever]

It may not be either that has degraded, problem with power line transmission is the rate that you get is determined by how noisy your power lines are, literally anything in your household plugged into the power could be the thing thats degraded or more likely something new plugged into the power line since that time when things were newly installed has added noise.

 

There is a way to test this, unplug everything on the individual circuits that your equipment is on, then shut down all of the other circuits in the household and run your tests.

 

If your speed increases now you know something in your household is adding noise to the power line.

 

next turn on one additional circuit breaker and retest, turn that circuit breaker back off and try another, when you find what circuit breaker degrades your signal the most, now all you have to do is find out what devices are plugged into that circuit, plug and unplug each device on that circuit until you find out which one is degrading your signal.

 

Cell phone chargers can be very noisy because batteries don't care if the signal is noisy or not they just care if there are enough amps to charge quickly.

[G+_Jason Marsh]

My powerline networking link had been on a slow, painful decline for a while. Last night it completely quit. This morning I was able to get it to give me about 2.5Mb/s and I was going to throw it out and go with an old wrt54g as wireless client bridge. I decided to try it again after disconnecting the office network switch's power brick from the outlet the powerline device was on, and VIOLA!!! Now I've got 16 Mb/s, which is close enough to the 25 I get directly connected to the gateway.

 

Darn you , TPLink!!! Just as Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ was talking good about your products...

[G+_Mark Messiha]

Hey I have a tplink switch too. I'll check back in when I get a chance to take it down.

[G+_Robert Hafer]

Insteon makes filters to prevent noisy appliances from interfering with PLM communication; may work for you to, if you find the culprit(s). smarthome.com - Insteon Plug-in 10-Amp Plug-In Powerline Noise Filter

[G+_Jason Marsh]

Looks like those Insteon units are targeting noise in the narrowband PLC frequencies (around 120 KHz) which is not where the homeplug/powerline networking devices are. We'd need something roughly in the 1 to 250 MHz range.

[G+_Golden Retriever]

That may not be as simple as you surmise Jayson, the noise can occur as a different frequency that is a multiple of your transmission / reception frequency and still have an impact.

[G+_Golden Retriever]

Try replacing any compact fluorescent or traditional florescent bulbs the ballasts get noisier over time, I'm not sure about LED but anything that converts AC-DC can inject noise, old fashioned light bulbs may be best in the lamps you speak of.

[G+_Golden Retriever]

I am guessing you don't want to run wire or I would suggest fiber, so are there any existing wire dropping through the floor, I used to have directv when I returned the transceivers they did not want the media converters back, they were installed to provide Internet access across the coax cable, is that an option?