[SOLVED] Can powerline break/reset ISP?

Mar 1, 2022
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Been using a powerline for about 5 months , connecting my laptop in my bedroom at the back of our flat to the router as wifi does not reach. Worked fine for 5 months then last week we had terrible internet, cutting in and out every 5 mins all day every day. Realised that this only occurred when I logged into my laptop and used the internet via powerline.

If I let it reset and then moved to another room to use wifi the connection the internet was fine and the broadband did not disconnect. Weird thing is I have tried resetting the powerline, and if I keep both adaptors in the front room (same room as the router) and use the powerline the connection is fine. The ISP only breaks when I move one powerline adaptor to another room and then use my laptop, which is an issue as it basically means the powerline serves no useful purpose (and I still can't get internet in my room).

Does anyone have any idea what could be the cause/ any remedy?
 
Solution
First verify that only one network adapter is enabled on the laptop. Wired or wireless but not both at the same time.

Test all Ethernet cables to ensure that they are known to work and work at speed. Sometimes cables will work in one situation but not somewhere else - they can be sensitive sometimes.

Next - regarding:

"The ISP only breaks when I move one powerline adaptor to another room "

I would suspect a problem within the electrical system.

Do you have another known working computer (desktop or laptop) to test in that other room? Determine if that known working computer will connect.

If so, the problem may be the laptop. If the second "test" computer does not work then the room to room wiring and powerline connectivity...

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
First verify that only one network adapter is enabled on the laptop. Wired or wireless but not both at the same time.

Test all Ethernet cables to ensure that they are known to work and work at speed. Sometimes cables will work in one situation but not somewhere else - they can be sensitive sometimes.

Next - regarding:

"The ISP only breaks when I move one powerline adaptor to another room "

I would suspect a problem within the electrical system.

Do you have another known working computer (desktop or laptop) to test in that other room? Determine if that known working computer will connect.

If so, the problem may be the laptop. If the second "test" computer does not work then the room to room wiring and powerline connectivity are suspect.

However, if both powerline adapters work in the same room that makes the wiring the likely culprit.

Continue methodically testing different connection paths where only one thing is changed at at time.

Use some simple diagrams to keep track of connections and swaps.

Narrow down the cause accordingly.
 
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Solution
Mar 1, 2022
2
0
10
Thank you for the response - will try and perform the tests as you have mentioned. I also suspect the wiring, but find it odd that would change so abruptly 5 months in. I actually managed to get it working the last few hours by hard resetting my router, but issues may be cropping up again. Don't particularly get why that would rectify things (if only for a few hours) if it was wiring.
 

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Thank you for the response - will try and perform the tests as you have mentioned. I also suspect the wiring, but find it odd that would change so abruptly 5 months in. I actually managed to get it working the last few hours by hard resetting my router, but issues may be cropping up again. Don't particularly get why that would rectify things (if only for a few hours) if it was wiring.
Also, since it is a laptop, it is easy to walk to the router and plug in directly to determine if the laptop is causing problems or the powerline network.
 
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