Extremely Slow Download Speed With Ethernet Cable

[Ambitiousmould]

In my room it is very difficult for me to obtain a wireless Internet connection. To solve this I use a device that I don't know the name of, but it's basically a plug that goes into the mains that has an Ethernet port on it. You plug one in near the modem or router and connect it to it with an Ethernet Cable, the plug a corresponding plug thing in near your computer and connect those with an Ethernet and the mains basically act as an Ethernet Cable, as I understand it. This has worked fine for months but recently my Internet on my PC has been slowing right down at around 8 or 9 o'clockish for a couple of hours. Then yesterday it slowed down further and currently, while I am trying to download Shadow of Mordor, Steam tells me that it is downloading at 1-20kbs, frequently dropping to just a few bytes.

I use windows 7 64bit and I am on Virgin Media. Other devices have no Internet issues. I know that this information isn't very helpful, but if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone needs any more information I'd be all too happy to oblige.

 

[Albino Boo]

Its called a homeplug. Try moving both plugs to different sockets and reconnecting.

 

[renegade7]

Those things work by adding a tiny signal into the mains powerline in your house that is decoded by the receiver. Normally, this is not a problem. However, if you've got too many things running, especially appliances with large back EMFs (refrigerator, air conditioning, things like that) on the same circuit as your transmitter and/or receiver, then they're going to interfere with the ability of that device to send a signal over the power line by adding impedance, especially if the appliances in question are cheap.

My first guess is that as the seasons are changing, your heating (or AC, depending on where you are) system is starting to run more aggressively, and that system includes at least one, possibly several, heavy air compressors which take a fair amount of power, which is why it's been getting worse recently. Sometimes the house's circuit layout isn't extremely intuitive (you'd think one room = one circuit, but not always the case by a long shot) so first try to see if you can move it to a different plug or a plug in a different room you can run a cable from.

If that doesn't work, try getting a really long ethernet cable and running it from the modem to your room, or (if that fails) getting a higher-gain wifi antenna.

 

[Ambitiousmould]

Righto, I'll try switching plugs to see if that works (I can only actually move one due to the placement of the router) then report back. Also, the thing about the heating seems to fit right in, for the last couple of days we've just started putting the heating on, I just never imagined that that could even affect it. Also since I am in the loft and my router is on the ground floor, a house-length cable isn't really possible.

Cheers guys.

Edit: Ok, sitrep, it stretches across the room a bit, but I'll find a longer cable, but goodness gracious that more than doubled my download speed. Many thanks.