Question Powerline Ethernet extender affecting overall performance

[BrianFlow]

Hi all,

Couple of years ago I built a PC and connected it by ethernet cable to the router, I have a decent connection however recently my brother bought a ethernet switch and I think it is a powerline ethernet extender to play games on his laptop instead of the wifi, we have a low end router with only 2 ethenret ports which were already in use and a large family with many devices connected by WiFi, he believes when he uses the extender nothing changes but I have noticed a major change in my speed like videos constantly buffering, taking a lot longer to download stuff and even taking longer to load web pages and even my phone seems to be having problems. This only happens when he connects the ethernet extender and when I remove it my connection is fine again, he persisent to have it in so he can play games but I need some clarification on this.

Thanks

 

[kanewolf]

Hi all,

Couple of years ago I built a PC and connected it by ethernet cable to the router, I have a decent connection however recently my brother bought a ethernet switch and I think it is a powerline ethernet extender to play games on his laptop instead of the wifi, we have a low end router with only 2 ethenret ports which were already in use and a large family with many devices connected by WiFi, he believes when he uses the extender nothing changes but I have noticed a major change in my speed like videos constantly buffering, taking a lot longer to download stuff and even taking longer to load web pages and even my phone seems to be having problems. This only happens when he connects the ethernet extender and when I remove it my connection is fine again, he persisent to have it in so he can play games but I need some clarification on this.

Thanks

You have a wired connection and he has a wired connection plus you have lots of WIFI connected devices. You could have run out of ISP bandwidth. Especially upload bandwidth. Do you know what internet speeds you are paying for?

 

[thx1138v2]

I've heard it said that using a powerline network is like trying to hear a pin drop while a full symphony orchestra is playing 2 feet away - the power line is that noisy. So I imagine it is eating a lot of bandwidth with re-transmitting garbled signals. You have to spend money either way but powerline is probably not the way to go if other options are available.

 

[kanewolf]

I've heard it said that using a powerline network is like trying to hear a pin drop while a full symphony orchestra is playing 2 feet away - the power line is that noisy. So I imagine it is eating a lot of bandwidth with re-transmitting garbled signals. You have to spend money either way but powerline is probably not the way to go if other options are available.

But those retransmits (if any) happen at the switch or powerline adapter. They would not impact WAN bandwidth or other switched ports. They would only impact the brother, not the OP.

 

[BrianFlow]

You have a wired connection and he has a wired connection plus you have lots of WIFI connected devices. You could have run out of ISP bandwidth. Especially upload bandwidth. Do you know what internet speeds you are paying for?

Thanks for the reply, I think our download speed is around 44mbps but it is ulimited fibre optic, I also checked that our secuirty system is plugged into the second ethernet port so when he has the extender in my connection usually drops to between 0-100 kbps. I just need a solid point to agrue to why he cant put it in as I do a lot on my pc in terms of work and dont wanna lose my speed cause he doesnt wanna play games on wifi. Thanks!