Disappointed with 500Mb Powerline

T

Trackr

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 10, 2011
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I'm running my NAS connect to two computers via Cat6 cables and I'm getting 50MB/s+.

However, I bought a 500Mbps Powerline adapter and I'm getting around 3.5-4MB max..

That's around 30Mbps, not 500. What's the deal, and can I do anything to fix it..?
 
I suggest removing every possible extention cord and such in between the powerline adapter and wallsocket.

Atleast i got huge improvements by doing so. 20MB/s -> 200MB/s :)
 
I have 500mb/s ones and they work really good. The more power being used on the circuit drops bandwidth, and the further they are away from each other, the more it drops. Remember each circuit has to go to the breaker box and back. If possible, keep them on the same circuit.
 
Monkey God said:
I have 500mb/s ones and they work really good. The more power being used on the circuit drops bandwidth, and the further they are away from each other, the more it drops. Remember each circuit has to go to the breaker box and back. If possible, keep them on the same circuit.
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Well, I can't move the computers, so I'll have to try every socket in both rooms..

I also don't know how I can keep power down..
 
Trackr said:
However, I bought a 500Mbps Powerline adapter and I'm getting around 3.5-4MB max..

That's around 30Mbps, not 500. What's the deal, and can I do anything to fix it..?
Click to expand...

I'm getting about the same speeds from my 2nd floor to the 1st floor on the other side of my house where the router is. If I'm on the same side of the house I can get about 50mbps.

But even with 30mbps I am still happier with powerline than Wireless N. The powerline is full duplex and can support more than one simultaneous data stream. Most reviews show good scaling up to 4 streams. Have you tried doing 2 or more file transfers simultaneously? Also powerline has been more stable and consistent. Wireless N has better burst speed, but settles at a lower avg speed because of lots of highs and lows.
 
RocketTech said:
This is why I hate powerline networking. Ethernet (preferred) or WiFi
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I'm the opposite....powerline over wireless any day of the week...especially for online gaming. Works wonderfully at home..and I have wicked good wireless at home too! But powerline is still copper, and copper trumps wireless any day of the week (unless you're doing dial up over POTS copper)

Worked waaaaaaay better in my current house (3 floors worth)...worked waaaay better in my prior house (old 3 story farmhouse with horrible wiring), worked waaay better in my house before that. And at clients.

Haven't had a bad experience yet.
 
Trackr said:
Well, I can't move the computers, so I'll have to try every socket in both rooms..

I also don't know how I can keep power down..
Click to expand...

What you should do is see if there is more than one circuit in each room. There are a lot of homes where they seem like they are wired at random and will have different outlets in different rooms on the same circuit. There is always a chance that one outlet in one room might be on the same circuit as an outlet on a different floor or an adjacent room. That would be your ideal scenario if you can find a pair of outlets on the same circuit. You could also try moving equipment off of the circuits you want to use your network adapters on if you have another circuit in that room to use.

If you have coax that isn't being used, you might also be able to try a MoCa adapter instead.

Another thing that might be worthy of checking is just making sure the outlets are wired correctly. You can buy a $5 outlet tester at most hardware stores. I'm not sure how the powerline adapters handle if one side is flipped. Guessing they must be able to switch switch pin is send and which is receive, but it could potentially affect the performance.
 
Make sure both sides are plugged straight into the wall. I had mine plugged into a wall surge protector and it killed me speeds by a ton .....
 
jadams said:
They might be preferred, but someone doesnt buy powerline generally unless there isnt another option.
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Yeah. I connect my WiFi router upstairs on one side of the house via powerline to my cable modem downstairs on the other side. I am not running ethernet for that because I have a tendency to move my PC crap around twice a year to different rooms.
 
Dunno if this is practical, but most houses built since the 70s will have most if not all of the lights for a floor on one circuit. Duplex outlets CAN all be on one circuit (excluding bathroom, kitchen and lights) but are typically broken up more on newer/better quality homes.
Overhead lighting and wall outlets are required to be on separate circuits so a tripped breaker does not kill all electricity (lighting) in a room.
 
I am hearing a lot about my circuits.. but how exactly do I check which circuit is what?

I managed to map out my breaker to what switch controls what part of what room, but obviously the same switch does not power both powerlines.. as they are in separate rooms.

Also, I plugged it in straight to the wall socket and it's actually slower (2.5MB max) than it was on the socket right next to it, but with a 4-way expander.. weird, huh?
 
I am also reasonably unimpressed with powerline when I compare it to "promised speeds" but I use it as the link between the ISP entry and my gateway and we only have 15Mb internet, so it's fine for that.
 
Depending on the vendor (I have Belkin's gigabit powerline ethernet), you may be able to plug in a 3rd adapter which will improve speed further. I'm thinking about doing so for my living room to get my 360 on a wired network connection.
 
You may have a lot of noise in the lines. Have you tried using a noise filter? Zyxel makes one for about $20.
 
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