Powerline Networking in old house

[willj1220]

Hi this is my first post, and I've been reading Anandtech for years. I have a younger cousin (13) that I help out building and maintaining his gaming rig. He had a wireless networking card but always got poor signal from what I believed a lot of interference from the walls in his old house (70-100 years old). So I suggested he get a power-line adapter (TP-LINK TL-PA4010KIT) so he could ditch the wireless all together. When he got the power-line setup he speed tested only 0.03-0.09Mbps. After a few attempts at trying a few things to fix it, I suggested we hook both adapters to the same power-strip next to the router to see what speed we got. When we speed tested that we got 43Mbps his full internet speed.

Now my question for you guys, have you guys ever heard of an old house's wiring being an issue for power-line networking?​

I quick Google search did not return much information. Also the power-line adapter is rated at 500ft and that definitly is not an issue because its well under that. Thank you

 

[Aarondeep]

Have him plug directly into the outlet and bypass any surge protectors and power strips and see if that helps. Powerline networking doesn't always play nice with those.

 

[willj1220]

Thanks for your reply, but we already tried that. After talking to my boss at work (IT Director who knows a thing or two about electricity) said that the room he was going to in his house was on a different phase/leg of 120v as the other room, resulting in extremely poor performance. After I found this out I did some more Googling and found an article that explains just that:

"One problem with Powerline Ethernet is the way the technology works. In the United States, homes tend to be wired in what is called “Split Phase.” Electricity enters at 240v and splits in to two 120v legs. In short, the rooms you want to connect may be on different 120v legs and therefore Powerline Ethernet speeds can be a little slower than if both outlets in the two separate rooms were on the same 120v leg. In most cases, even rooms on different 120v legs can still connect but in extreme cases, special jumpers need to be installed at the Electrical Panel to help the signals cross between the 120v legs." - Jason Palmer

So he just returned the power-line adapters and bought an Amped Wireless Adapter that seems to be working much better than his original wireless adapter. Thank you

 

[Fardringle]

Old wiring can definitely cause issues with powerline networking. Bad/old/corroded wires, poor connections and grounding. Old/inadequate fuses and breakers. Separate circuits in different parts of the house. All of these can easily make powerline not work properly.

 

[JackMDS]

"One problem with Powerline Ethernet is the way the technology works. In the United States, homes tend to be wired in what is called “Split Phase.” Electricity enters at 240v and splits in to two 120v legs. In short, the rooms you want to connect may be on different 120v legs and therefore Powerline Ethernet speeds can be a little slower than if both outlets in the two separate rooms were on the same 120v leg. In most cases, even rooms on different 120v legs can still connect but in extreme cases, special jumpers need to be installed at the Electrical Panel to help the signals cross between the 120v legs." - Jason Palmer

As indicated above Outlets in the USA are about 110VAC.

As compare to 220/240VAC the same Devices takes x2 the current.

""As all of you know"" there is "like" the "old" (but still valid) Ohm's law - W= I x V

Devices that take (as an example) 220W = 1A x 220V

In the USA 240W= 2A x 110V - I.e., Twice the Current in the electrical system.

Higher Current results in Higher Spikes generated by most appliances.

Spikes are the "Devil" enemy of Powerline traffic.

As a result most attempts to use Powerline of efficient Network traffic end up with Disappointment.

 

[ccbadd]

I would return the adapters and see if you could get some MoCA adapters instead. That is, if he has cable tv is both of the rooms he needs to connect and is not using satellite TV. Might has to replace splitters also for some that support higher frequencies.