Question Just upgraded my Powerline Networking but experiencing a strange connection issue.

[Rydychyn]

Some background to the problem:

I recently upgraded my internet package to provide more Mb/s but then realised I had outdated Powerline Adapters that couldn't handle more than about 40Mbps. I purchased some more expensive, newer adapters that claim to support 1000Mbps. Obviously you never get what they claim, and I only pay for 150Mbps anyway, but this has increased the 40 I receive via the adapters to around 85.
Brilliant, job done, or so I thought... However when playing any online game I periodically get the smallest of absolute lag spikes; lasts less than one second. About every 20 seconds or so. On Rocket League, it makes every entity in the game suddenly speed up to catch up to where the players and ball actually are. On R6:Siege, it makes everyone stutter, making a twitch-shooter completely unplayable.

I've never had this problem before, so it must be something to do with my new set-up, and I'm hoping someone who reads this may be able to give insight into the cause.

Old Powerline Set-Up (With no connection problems):

BT SmartHub2 -> Cat5e Eth -> BT Broadband Extender 500 plugged into Surge-Protected Extension Lead -> Wall -> BT Broadband Extender 500 plugged into Surge-Protected Extension Lead -> Cat5e Eth -> Gigabyte GA-H81M-S2H

New Powerline Set-Up :

BT SmartHub2 -> Cat6 Eth -> NetGear PL1000 with Pass-Through Socket plugged directly into Wall -> NetGear PL1000 with Pass-Through Socket plugged directly into Wall -> Cat6 Eth -> Gigabyte GA-H81M-S2H

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Any suggestions appreciated,

Thanks.

 

[anotherdrew]

A bit of background ... Powerline extenders work by putting a high frequency signal on your home electrical wires. The idea is that that high frequency signal is outside the range of what is normally flowing on your lines and thus you can communicate. Think of it like 2 tall people in a room full of short people. The truth of it is that all those short people sometimes jump up and down or wave their hands ... interference. Also, what if the two tall people are facing different directions and can only see each other through a mirror ... distance. These things make it harder for the 2 tall people to communicate.

Your situation ... Your BT extenders are rated at 500 Mb/s ... you say you were only getting about 40 Mb/s, so 10% ish. Clearly its not the optimum setup. It could be either or both interference and distance that is hampering you. This is especially true if the two plugs are on different circuits, such that the signal has to travel back to your breaker box, though the breakers (which weaken the signal) and then back out to the other plug. Moving to the faster models means that you use a wider swath of frequencies to move more data and potentially get hit by new interference.

What you can do ... to limit interference/distance issues.
Try other plugs. Use longer runs of Ethernet to enable using a different plug.
Try unplugging things. Motors, transformers (like phone chargers), some LED lights (especially dimmed ones), plasma TVs all have been shown to cause interference. Other things can too. Sometimes putting these items on a power strip with a surge protector will reduce the interference.

Hope that helps.