Powerline problems

[Teggy]

I've been running a Western Digital Powerline setup for a good 6 months or so with very nice results. However, in the last few days I've noticed that we've been having a lot of problems with the signal on the remote end. We'll get very low bandwidth and sometimes none at all. I was wondering if maybe it was due to the air conditioning now going on and putting some kind of stress on the electrical system, but there is no specifc time when it will stop working correctly. Sometimes it will work fine with the A/C on and sometimes it will work poorly with the A/C off. Wondering if anyone has any experience troubleshooting these kinds of issues?

[Harkonis]

I've tried a similar setup three times in my life at different places.  I've never had it work well.  It's very susceptible to any fluctuations and imo most houses that are older than 5 years just don't have suitable wiring for it. (and most that are younger than 5 years have cat-5 installed in walls )

The AC could very well be applying enough of a surge to screw things up.  House wiring signals are also pretty sensitive to everything which is why I would never recommend a powerline network unless you simply can't go wired or wireless.

(and just so I don't feel stupid, you do mean network over the AC wiring in the house, right?  )

[gellar]

I've had great results with mine and my house is over 100 years old.  I don't run any AC or anything like that though so my current tends to be pretty empty other than the standard household stuff.  All heating is gas as well, so maybe my situation is optimal.

[Harkonis]

You have another potential exception in that as long as the wiring itself is ok, REALLY old houses tend to have very sturdy walls that are mostly interference proof for signal. 

[TheAtomicKid]

Sounds like you have noise on the line NOT coming from the air conditioning.

Cellphone chargers are notorious for this.

Tell us more about your setup.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/

Atomic

PS: A powerline surge could theoretically have damaged one or both of your units. Also I don't know how they work for signal filtration, if any... as a comparison, the little DSL filters you have to install between a DSL enabled phone line and any POTS equipment installed... those wear out. When they wear out you start getting real connectivity issues with the DSL end for some reason. Which is weird, because you would think that the only result would be that you start hearing noise on the POTS equipment due to the filter being blown...but no, the DSL equipment will start having issues as WELL as having noise on your phone.

[Teggy]

Setup is pretty simple. I have a Fios router on the bottom/basement level that is plugged into the WD Livewire box, which is then plugged into the wall. On the other end of the house and upstairs I have the other Livewire box plugged into the wall. I have a wireless access point coming out of that box, but also have a Tivo directly plugged into the box and will connect my laptop directly to the box to test the bandwidth. There is a powerstrip plugged into the other socket, but nothing has changed there since I initially set it up.

[gellar]

You have another potential exception in that as long as the wiring itself is ok, REALLY old houses tend to have very sturdy walls that are mostly interference proof for signal. 

Yeah I suspect you are correct.  I was shocked when I plugged the thing in and maxed out my ISPs connection speed.