Question powerline ethernet adapter giving me really slow speed

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
You chose the oldest version of powerline -- AV500. If you want better performance you need to use a better powerline adapter. The AV2 MIMO standard, which is often rated as AV2000 and is the newest standard, will usually provide 100Mb or more.
There are a few things you can check to improve powerline. Ensure your adapters are plugged into the wall. No power strips. Try unplugging any chargers or wall mounted transformers. They can generated noise on the powerline.
 
Powerline speed ratings are exaggerated just like wifi speeds. And to a certain extent are similar to wifi in having to deal with noise or other issues on the power system, so there's no guarantee of speeds.

The one guarantee is that the newest powerlines are faster and more reliable than older models.
 
May 2, 2020
4
0
10
Ethernet over power line is very dependent on the structure and length of the wiring between. The app will newer know that. It may work better between another pairs of main sockets - have you tried that?
I have tried using different power sockets. I think it's just because my house is old.
 
May 2, 2020
4
0
10
Powerline speed ratings are exaggerated just like wifi speeds. And to a certain extent are similar to wifi in having to deal with noise or other issues on the power system, so there's no guarantee of speeds.

The one guarantee is that the newest powerlines are faster and more reliable than older models.
So should I return mine? My download speed and ping don't seem to get any better.
 

MChevrier

Prominent
Jun 3, 2020
2
0
510
Powerline speed ratings are exaggerated just like wifi speeds. And to a certain extent are similar to wifi in having to deal with noise or other issues on the power system, so there's no guarantee of speeds.

The one guarantee is that the newest powerlines are faster and more reliable than older models.

In my daughter's room, I had problem having a constant/reliable speed. My Netgear Powerline is a little old, I also tought that newer equipment would be better, so I decided to buy a new Powerline kit (TP-Link), but got the same non reliability.

Just for the fun of it, I decided to do some comparative testing. Here is the test setup.

I did the tests in 2 different rooms close to my daughter's room and in her room, altogether 3 different places.
All the rooms are one wall away from her's. However one has a difference, the outlet is protected by a GFCI because it is a bathroom.
When the tests are done, I am alone in the house, so no other users on the net.

For all the speed tests I used http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
With my Internet provider, I have 10Mb/1,5Mb

In each room, I did 6 consecutive tests with one device, went down to change the adapter that goes in the router, plugged the corresponding wifi access point in the tested room in the same outlet and did 6 more tests.

Here are the results, I'll let you decode the results :

Tests resultsHer roomHer roomRoom next to itRoom next to itBathroom on the other side of the wall (GFCI)
TPNGTPNGTPNG
Test 1
9​
10,5​
4,4​
6,3​
6,9​
10,9​
Test 2
7,3​
9,3​
3,2​
3​
8,2​
10,5​
Test 3
4,4​
8,7​
4,6​
2,5​
7​
11,1​
Test 4
5,3​
8,2​
3,8​
4,8​
8,1​
10,7​
Test 5
4,6​
5,3​
2,9​
8,3​
9,6​
10,5​
Test 6
2,8​
4,3​
4,5​
3,9​
7,1​
10,6​
Average
5,6​
7,7​
3,9​
4,8​
7,8​
10,7​
TP =Brand new TP-Link 300Mbps WIFI range extender AV600 TL-WPA4220
NG =Older Netgear Powerline 500 Wifi AV500 XWNB5201

I am returning the TP-Link to the store and keeping the NG installed in the bathroom.
 
Last edited:
That's not new enough--you need av1200 or av2000 to see a difference.

Also, because your internet access is so low (basically hovering around the original ethernet spec of 10Mbps), you may not see such a large difference since just 1Mbps difference is literally 10%. A better test would be to use iperf.
 

MChevrier

Prominent
Jun 3, 2020
2
0
510
That's not new enough--you need av1200 or av2000 to see a difference.

Also, because your internet access is so low (basically hovering around the original ethernet spec of 10Mbps), you may not see such a large difference since just 1Mbps difference is literally 10%. A better test would be to use iperf.

I tried to install Iperf on my Win 8.1 and no success. I tried at Source Forge (V2) and at IPerf.fr for V3 and no success. Any suggestions?