Post Published on October 17, 2010.
Last Updated on November 29, 2017 by davemackey.
At my home I have Verizon FiOS with one of those Actiontec MI424WR routers. My laptop can connect to the network without issue – but recently I’ve been having issues with my desktop which is hard-wired using powerline ethernet adapters (Panasonic HD PA100). Resetting the devices and sometimes the router seems to work – but they then get bogged down fairly quickly.
Sometimes the issue seems to be an entire connection loss but just as often – if not more so – it seems like the connection just gets unbearably slow. Now, the most likely suspect in this instance would be the adapters – they are perhaps 1-3 years old at this juncture – and they had been operating fine previously but…
I also manage the Verizon FiOS network at my church which also uses Actiontec MI424WR routers and utilizes these same make and model powerline ethernet adapters and around the same time the church began having similar networking issues over the powerline but not with the wireless.
Any thoughts on what might cause this? It seems to me extremely unlikely that all of the devices are going bad. I’m pondering whether Verizon could have changed / upgraded the software / configuration on the MI424WR in some way that doesn’t place nice with the powerline adapters? Or, could it be that something was changed in the electrical signal (I don’t know much about electricity :P).
If anyone has any ideas I’d love to hear them! At this juncture I’m also open to alternative options – preferably not involving running Cat5 or Cat6 cable through the walls…but I need some way to hook up at least two printers (at the church) that don’t have any wireless connectivity – just normal ethernet ports – and I’d rather not have to do too much jury-rigging.