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My internet is slow over powerline Adapters

Asked by sikhwarrior,

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sikhwarrior
Posted (edited)

Hi all, as the title suggests I am getting awful internet speeds while using my powerline adapters. I have been quoted upto 500Mbps and when I do a speedtest from the router, I get around 450Mbps ish.  When I use my computer which is upstairs over the powerline, I hit roughly 20-40Mbps. Wireless I get a bit better around 200ish depending on the device. The reason why I want to use wired, is because there are too many devices on wifi and I would like to use a lot more bandwidth while streaming or gaming. 

 

My question is, what could be the cause of this? I have tried different plugs and cables but no change.  Any suggestions on what else I could try? The powerline adapters that I am using are TP-link  model number:TP-PA511

 

image.thumb.png.9c4a07c12c4f00e307d5f7d83335abe4.png

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Sulphy
Posted

It could just be down to the wiring in your house, especially if it is an older house! I have the same issue, not much i can do without rewiring everything.

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Brandon H
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Posted

powerline adapters, while nice, are luck of the draw. They're completely dependent on how good the wiring is in the building.

 

There are several factors such as how long a distance it has to travel on the wire (if they're on the same wiring juncture etc.), how old the wiring is, what grade of wires are used, etc.

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sikhwarrior
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Posted

well I have been living in this house for 8 years and judging by where the sockets are positioned, I guess they are easily over 30 years old. I don't really want to use WI-FI but looks like I might have to invest in some powerline adapaters with WI-FI. A year ago the same powerline had been giving me anywhere between 250Mbps to 368Mbps with Virgin media as my ISP. Strange how in a year the speeds have dropped a lot 

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+spikey_richie
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Posted
37 minutes ago, sikhwarrior said:

Strange how in a year the speeds have dropped a lot 

It could be that other devices that are connected to the mains supply are causing noise/interference, which is adversely impacting your speed. You could try unplugging anything unnecessary which is on the same ring as the powerline adapters, and see if the speed improves. Also, make sure you're not using a multi socket. They work best when plugged straight into a wall outlet.

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Brandon H
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Posted
41 minutes ago, sikhwarrior said:

well I have been living in this house for 8 years and judging by where the sockets are positioned, I guess they are easily over 30 years old. I don't really want to use WI-FI but looks like I might have to invest in some powerline adapaters with WI-FI. A year ago the same powerline had been giving me anywhere between 250Mbps to 368Mbps with Virgin media as my ISP. Strange how in a year the speeds have dropped a lot 

how long have you had the same powerline adapters? from personal experience I can say they don't generally have the best longevity. When I was in a townhome I used them for my room when the router was on the other side of the house and they would work well but generally burnt out after a year or slightly longer of use and I would have to replace them.

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sikhwarrior
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Posted
45 minutes ago, spikey_richie said:

It could be that other devices that are connected to the mains supply are causing noise/interference, which is adversely impacting your speed. You could try unplugging anything unnecessary which is on the same ring as the powerline adapters, and see if the speed improves. Also, make sure you're not using a multi socket. They work best when plugged straight into a wall outlet.

Just moved both powerline to their own sockets and I am getting around. Will finally try in the same room to see if that has any

 

 

47 minutes ago, Brandon H said:

how long have you had the same powerline adapters? from personal experience I can say they don't generally have the best longevity. When I was in a townhome I used them for my room when the router was on the other side of the house and they would work well but generally burnt out after a year or slightly longer of use and I would have to replace them.

I have had these powerlines for around 5/6 years now. I am looking at newer ones TP-link. I have got a few cat 5e cables that I am using so might just bite the bullet and just get new powerline adapters.    

image.png

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Brandon H
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Posted
Just now, sikhwarrior said:

I have had these powerlines for around 5/6 years now. I am looking at newer ones TP-link. I have got a few cat 5e cables that I am using so might just bite the bullet and just get new powerline adapters.    

oh yeah then a new set may help; that set might just be on its last legs and is getting ready to burn out all together.

 

worth a shot at least considering powerline adapters aren't too terribly expensive :) 

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helpifIcan
Posted

Just in case you haven't tried yet remove both of them and swap them sounds silly but you never know. If they have a any setup I would also go back to factory default and see if that helps.

 

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sikhwarrior
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Posted

An update to my issue, I received my new powerline adapters  and installed the tp link software, the software reported that the line can handle 315Mbps. I spoke with my ISP who said it sounds like a router issue and are sending me a new one. Next stage is waiting for the new router from my ISP to come and see if that helps. 

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+BudMan
  • MVC
Posted

The best way to test the speed of powerline adapters is iperf with server on 1 end of powerline adapter A, and client on other side of adapter B..

 

This came up many moons ago, and yeah comes up every so often again - The thread from years ago was part of the reason I started compiling iperf3 for windows and posting it here whenever it updates..

 

 

As stated powerline adapters can be hit or miss.. If while connected to the router you see full speed, but through the powerline you do not - how does that make any sense that its your routers issue?  Your isp sending you a new router is unlikely to solve the problem if your seeing full speed you pay for via connection to the router.

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Superuser
Posted
On 11/12/2020 at 14:10, sikhwarrior said:

An update to my issue, I received my new powerline adapters  and installed the tp link software, the software reported that the line can handle 315Mbps. I spoke with my ISP who said it sounds like a router issue and are sending me a new one. Next stage is waiting for the new router from my ISP to come and see if that helps. 

Why are you wasting your time with this? Throw out the powerline apapters and either upgrade your WiFi access point (consider a mesh setup) or run Ethernet cable.

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+BudMan
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Posted
50 minutes ago, Superuser said:

or run Ethernet cable.

That would be the correct solution to be honest ;)  Powerlines are always a MacGyver sort of solution if you ask me..  Running actual wire is going to give you best results.

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Superuser
Posted
33 minutes ago, BudMan said:

That would be the correct solution to be honest ;)  Powerlines are always a MacGyver sort of solution if you ask me..  Running actual wire is going to give you best results.

Yeah, I don't get it... A good WiFi setup would be better than powerline adapters in most cases.

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+BudMan
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Posted

Depends on what your doing.. powerline can be very stable and when working correctly have very little jitter compared to wireless.

 

They can be a solution when a wire can not be run.. Or can not be used.. I had to use them in my son's new place.. He wanted to setup a hdhomerun which has no wireless only wired.  He had no wire where he needed to put it to be able to connect it to an antenna without a lot of work.  Either running a wire for ethernet, or for running an antenna to where he could connect it with a wire.

 

It doesn't need a lot of bandwidth..  So could of setup some sort of wireless bridge device as one solution.. But to be honest the powerline was easier solution.  If it had not worked, would of needed to either run a wire.  Possible maybe to leverage moca, since he has it in the area.  And if bandwidth would of been needed - might have gone that route.

 

But the powerline was a simple/reasonable priced - hey macgyver how you going to get out this one.. You have paperclip and some chewing gum ;)

 

They really have zero setup, at most you push a button on them..  They are no brainer to understand.. What goes in this one - comes out the other one ;)

 

I don't think they should ever be considered a first choice option..  But they do have use cases for sure.   Setting up a mesh network sure could be option - but most decent mesh networks are not all that cheap..  If how your house is wired doesn't allow them to function at a decent speed/reliability then you just return them and try another option.. My son was getting 80mbps on some of the testing I did - which is more than enough for him to stream some live tv from his hdhomerun device.

 

 

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sikhwarrior
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Posted
On 24/12/2020 at 16:20, BudMan said:

Depends on what your doing.. powerline can be very stable and when working correctly have very little jitter compared to wireless.

 

They can be a solution when a wire can not be run.. Or can not be used.. I had to use them in my son's new place.. He wanted to setup a hdhomerun which has no wireless only wired.  He had no wire where he needed to put it to be able to connect it to an antenna without a lot of work.  Either running a wire for ethernet, or for running an antenna to where he could connect it with a wire.

 

It doesn't need a lot of bandwidth..  So could of setup some sort of wireless bridge device as one solution.. But to be honest the powerline was easier solution.  If it had not worked, would of needed to either run a wire.  Possible maybe to leverage moca, since he has it in the area.  And if bandwidth would of been needed - might have gone that route.

 

But the powerline was a simple/reasonable priced - hey macgyver how you going to get out this one.. You have paperclip and some chewing gum ;)

 

They really have zero setup, at most you push a button on them..  They are no brainer to understand.. What goes in this one - comes out the other one ;)

 

I don't think they should ever be considered a first choice option..  But they do have use cases for sure.   Setting up a mesh network sure could be option - but most decent mesh networks are not all that cheap..  If how your house is wired doesn't allow them to function at a decent speed/reliability then you just return them and try another option.. My son was getting 80mbps on some of the testing I did - which is more than enough for him to stream some live tv from his hdhomerun device.

 

 

For me, I just wanted low latency while gaming. I will be upgrading the Wi-Fi system as it does seem to be a lot better than having too many wires everywhere. 

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+BudMan
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Posted
1 hour ago, sikhwarrior said:

than having too many wires everywhere. 

You don't lay them across the floor ;)

 

 

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