Improving powerline connection (or switching to WiFi?)
Happy Saturday!
I'm currently on the 2nd floor of an apartment, with our router in the basement (can't move it). Running an ethernet cable throughout the house is unfortunately not possible. My desktop PC is in my room running on a Powerline adapter, and the connection is solid, but my downloads speeds are awful compared to what my roommates are getting (and even what my laptops are getting throughout the house!). I upgraded to a gigabit-capable Powerline adapter + Cat-6 ethernet cable which improved my speeds, but as you can see below they are still pretty bad:
Desktop on Powerline: 43 down, 72 up
Work Macbook on WiFi: 106 down, 99 up // 93 down, 116 up
Roommate's Desktop on Ethernet: 92 down, 88 up
I confirmed my Speed in Network and Sharing > Adapter Settings shows 1.0 Gbps after the Powerline upgrade.
I'm wondering what the next best step would be to upgrade my network? Should I get a better plan with Verizon (or a better router - currently using the G1100 we got in 2018) to boost our speeds, or is the nature of the powerline setup / my apartment's electrical circuits going to limit me? Should I try a high-quality ethernet cable for faster speeds? Should I just switch to wireless and purchase a signal extender? I do some gaming on the side, so wireless isn't optimal, but I can work with it.
If there's anything I can try or any info I can get to help your answers, please let me know. I'm fairly technical so it shouldn't be a problem.
Posted Sep 25, 2021, 8:57 PM UTC
That's it right there.
Powerline is cool and in some cases is a lifesaver, but it generally works well or it doesn't. You can't do much to change it, because that would require changing the electrical circuits in your house. In some rare circumstances you can move or replace another electrical device and that will help.
If wi-fi is faster than powerline, use wi-fi. But if you want the best performance, you really need to think about running Ethernet cable.
Thanks! Yeah I know powerline is not ideal. My adapter is always all-green lights, so it seems like its stable but just doesn't have capability for the speeds I want.
Searching through here I learned about MoCA for the first time, but there aren't any coax outlets in my room, so I don't think that will work.
I could maybe consider running an ethernet cable out of my window and down to the basement - I believe there's a window 2 levels below mine (funny that I don't know that for sure - time to go check lol), butI'm not sure the landlord would be anymore thrilled about that then they/my roommates would be about running an ethernet cable probably 100ft+ through our apartment. Wish I could just drill a couple holes and be done with it.Depending on the situation and home construction, it may be worthwhile asking. Especially if it's plasterboard (drywall) and your landlord is a person rather than an entity. Just offer to do all the labor and pay for the materials and agree to inspection pre- and post-modification.
And prepare to research how to patch drywall.
I had to reread this a few times to understand, thanks for giving me an unintentional laugh!
Yeah good thinking. Maybe I'll bring it up if I don't have any luck with MoCA. I'm on the opposite side of the house from the router sadly, so even if I drill down, it'll still be a fair amount of running cable through the basement to get it to the router. Poop.