When plugged in the wired speed of my home network drops to around 10Mbps (occasionally)

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.

When plugged in the wired speed of my home network drops to around 10Mbps (occasionally)

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
When plugged in the wired speed of my home network drops to around 10Mbps (occasionally)
When plugged in the wired speed of my home network drops to around 10Mbps (occasionally)
2020-12-09 11:05:02 - last edited 2020-12-09 11:23:17
Model: TL-PA9020 KIT  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version:

This is the second or third time I've experienced this issue in about 2 months, but I've owned and used the powerline adapter (TL-PA9020-KIT) for around 16 months, which is necessary for providing a stable connection to the first floor of my home (very unreliable wifi).

 

Here's my setup:

Everything upstairs (several PCs, Sky Q Mini and powerline adapter 1) is connected to a Netgear switch, which is connected to my Sky Q router (router simply provides internet, no additional devices plugged into router. Etehernet setting is set to Fast Ethernet)

Downstairs, everything else (Smart TV and Sky Q box) are plugged into powerline adapter 2.

 

The last 2 times I've experienced this (the last time earlier today) I've noticed it before turning on the PC or browsing online, as the playback on my Sky Q Mini (which streams over the LAN, connected directly to the switch) becomes super choppy.

I try an internet speed test on my phone (via wifi) and everything seems good.

I then try an internet speed test on any wired device and I get terrible results.

Figuring it's some sort of interference, I remove everything from my LAN switch so it is only connected to my PC and my router, try the test again from my PC and get full speeds.

I then plug my devices in one by one, testing my internet speed.

Both times this has happened, removing my TP-Link Powerline adapter from the network has singularly resolved the issue.

Switching off the TP-Link device, letting it rest for a bit, then turning it back on, also resolves the issue, however I did notice the moment after I switched it on it caused my PC's connection to drop momentarily.

I have manually assigned IP addresses to all the essential gear on my network so the issue I don't think is due to IP address conflict (the reason I manually assigned IP Addresses however was due to an IP address conflict caused by my Sky Q box, causing all kinds of havoc with my network)

 

I've diagnosed the issue down to the powerline adapter, but I acknowledge that the issue may also lie with my Netgear switch (unlikely) or my Sky Q router (likely).

 

Is this a common issue? What can I try to prevent this happening again?

  0      
  0      
#1
Options
4 Reply
Re:When plugged in the wired speed of my home network drops to around 10Mbps (occasionally)
2020-12-10 16:54:30

@hedgehog90 

 

In a span of 16 months to see this a third time seems a bit of an issue to really troubleshoot. I suppose what you can try is if the issue happens, go down to the main powerline and test the speed on the first adapter. If that speed is slow, it could be something with the Ethernet cable or the router. If the first adapter is fine, bypass the switch and connect a computer directly to the second adapter. If that is slow then you are getting interference from something over the electrical line hindering the speed or the outlet itself meaning you should move the second adapter to another outlet. If the second adapter works when directly connected with a computer, then it could be the switch.

  0  
  0  
#2
Options
Re:When plugged in the wired speed of my home network drops to around 10Mbps (occasionally)
2020-12-23 22:36:31

@hedgehog90 The PA2020 have two network ports on them, right? Plug only one of them into the Netgear switch, not both.

  0  
  0  
#3
Options
Re:When plugged in the wired speed of my home network drops to around 10Mbps (occasionally)
2020-12-23 22:40:37

@magarity I'm ony using one of the ports.

Since last posting I've experienced the issue again, so it appears to be happening more frequently.

I've tried switching ports to see if that helps, will report back if it happens again.

  0  
  0  
#4
Options
Re:When plugged in the wired speed of my home network drops to around 10Mbps (occasionally)
2020-12-24 00:41:28

@hedgehog90 The Netgear (or any other switch) will negotiate what speed to run the network based on what it thinks the connected devices are capable of running. I suggest if you have a friend who has a switch to trade for a while and see if the problem follows the switch or stays with the powerline adapters. The issue may be that the switch is incorrectly negotiating the slow speeds.

  0  
  0  
#5
Options