Martin Wilson
Aug 02, 2022
However, if the speed of your powerline adapter is far slower than you had anticipated, there are a few things you may do to address the issue. Let's look at ways you may increase the speed of your powerline. Using powerline adapters to expand the reach of your home network is a simple and efficient method.
They make use of the electrical wiring already in your home to transmit data, enabling you to expand your network into every room of your home without having to run long stretches of Ethernet wire or deal with the issues that result in sluggish Wi-Fi speeds. However, even though they are easy to install, extremely inexpensive, and have the potential to function well, powerline networks are vulnerable to interference from various environmental conditions.
First, you need to double-check that you have the fundamentals under control. Powerline adapters need a direct connection to the electrical outlet in the wall. It is not a good idea to use surge protectors or power strips since both of these devices have the potential to block the frequencies that powerlines utilize.
You must also connect the adapters to the same primary circuit if possible. Signals sent by powerlines can hop from one course to another, but their strength is diminished with each hop. Experiment by using your plugs in various outlets and other rooms to discover the ones that provide the most outstanding performance. Because house wiring may be rather sophisticated, you will need to experiment if you do not have access to an electrical wiring map for your home.
On every network, the range is an important consideration that must be made. When a signal needs to travel longer, its strength diminishes. When using Ethernet or Wi-Fi, the usual range that may be achieved is 100 meters or 30 meters, respectively. Most powerline adapters have a range of around 300 meters in their theoretical capacity. It would help if you made every effort to keep it under 200 meters. Also, remember that we aren't discussing the distance in terms of the shortest route from point A to point B. The length of cable that the signal travels through may be far longer than you believe it to be.
According to several experiments, some kinds of circuit breakers, more precisely, a few different brands of AFCI circuit breakers, can prevent powerline adapters from functioning. Since you will not want to modify the circuit breaker itself, the only thing you can do is make sure that your adapter is not plugged into an outlet that is protected by one of them.
A large number of electrically powered devices have the potential to generate electrical noise, which may degrade the efficiency of powerline HomePlug networks. Specifically, this encompasses electronic gadgets such as chargers for mobile phones and tablets that use switch-mode power sources.
Because of the more decisive influence that noise has at the receiving end of the network compared to the broadcasting end; it is essential to minimize its presence as practically practicable as close to the receiving end. Nevertheless, a general reduction in the amount of noise would be beneficial. The influence of noise is limited to a particular area. Do not connect your powerline adapter to a dual-socket outlet or have another device plugged in within a couple of meters of the adapter. Also, do not put your powerline adapter into an outlet with more than one socket.
Consider updating your hardware if, after optimizing the environmental aspects of your powerline network, you are still dissatisfied with the Ethernet speed. You must be aware that the top speed a company advertises for one of its items is not the speed you will accomplish with that product.
To begin, the speeds often reflect the combined upload and download speeds. This means that an adapter rated at 1,200 Mbps could only provide a maximum of 600 Mbps for both uploading and downloading data. And if you take into account things like noise, distance, and the quality of the cables, among other things, you may anticipate getting half or possibly only a third of what is advertised on the packaging.
When selecting your equipment, you should always try to settle on a single system you will use consistently. You shouldn't combine different standards or different speeds. There is a degree of compatibility across various means, but this won't yield performance even near its maximum potential. In addition, if the speeds of the different components do not correspond, you will always be limited to the rate of the slowest element.