Powerline Adapters working at 1.5MBpS when should be 200MBpS

Mister-M5 · 26-11-2014 12:09PM #1

Hi folks,

Have UPC 200MB fixed line broadband. Speed tests at over 100MB and download rate of about 11MBpS on average. It's grand.

Needed wired connection upstairs so bought a twin pack of TP Link 200MB powerline adapters and then an additional single pack adapter.

I've paired them using the instructions, and the led signals indicate that the connection is successful, however, the desktops that are connected upstairs test at 1.5MB, that's speed test, not an actual download rate.

I understand that you are to expect significantly lower speeds due to interference on the electrical wires but surely not almost 1/100th of your actual speed?

Could anyone advise if there is anything else I could do?

dolallyoh · 26-11-2014 12:14PM

Ensure network card driver on the pc is the latest, that speed and duplex are set to auto negotiate. ensure not using a power strip.

There might be a new firmware for the tp links.

If all that fails move the pc downstairs and try again closer to see what the effect is.

My tplinks on my upc 120mb max out at 5.6mb per sec so Id expect you to get double.

Mister-M5 · 26-11-2014 12:27PM

Thanks for the advice. I'll give those a try as soon as I get home from work.

Much appreciated.

ED E · 26-11-2014 02:58PM

Few things.

1. Its shared medium technology, the more you add the slower they are. If you're having problems with 3 use 2.
2. As above, no gang leads, direct to wall sockets only.
3. Ring mains matter, test them on two sides of the same room to ensure the home plugs themselves are linking ok.

Mister-M5 · 12-12-2014 04:35PM

Hi guys,

Thanks for the advice above, tried it all but still no luck.

Went to the TP Link website and downloaded the app/utility for managing the adapters.

In the attached image, you can see that the device is detecting a 90Mps+ rate, but why then is it only running at 1.5?

If anyone could offer any insight I would really appreciate it.

ED E · 12-12-2014 04:39PM

Connect a laptop to ethernet on the remote one and then ping your router with this:

ping 192.168.1.254 -n 500

It should output responses with a pretty consistent time of just a few milliseconds. If some lines have "spikes" or high values then the link is unreliable.

If the results are good then you'd want to test throughput with something like iperf. That'll require a PC at either end of the homeplugs.

It may be the case your houses wiring just sucks for carrying DLAN traffic.

satguy · 12-12-2014 04:50PM

I have those powerline adapters and when I plugged them in I did not pair them, as others have said they work faster if unpaired.

Maybe unplug them and try just two adapters at first, but not paired, try them in other sockets.

Mister-M5 · 12-12-2014 05:11PM

Thanks for the replies folks.

Had a quick look at that video above and noticed he mentioned something about re-installing Windows, so, I tested the adapters on my new gaming desktop, as opposed to this 7 and a half year old laptop(bless it).

Running at 50Mbps Down and 20Mbps Up. Now I know that it's 200Mb UPC but I'm happy enough with 50 Mbps. I knew the network card on the laptop wouldn't exactly be ground breaking tech but I thought it should be capable of more than 1.5Mbps

Anyway, thanks again for the help. Much appreciated!:D

Alun · 12-12-2014 05:21PM

50Mbit/s from a 200Mbit/s adapter synched at 81Mbit/s is pretty good actually. I have two devolo 650+ adapters that are currently showing as being synched at 476 Mbit/s but only actually achieve 140Mbit/s on the UPC speed test. I get the full 200+ on my wired connection.

The thing is that the speed figures advertised for powerline adapters are a bit deceptive. The figure quoted is for both up and download combined, so even under 100% perfect lab conditions you could never get any more than 100Mbit/s from a pair of 200Mbit/s adapters.

1.5Mbit/s on the old laptop indicates there's something very wrong there though. Even a really ancient ethernet adapter would be 10Mbit/s, but should be almost certainly a 100Mbit/s model in something of that age.

Powerline Adapters working at 1.5MBpS when should be 200MBpS

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