Very poor internet connectivity

[Bearmaker77]

I have a laptop connected via ethernet cable directly to the router and a second one connected to WiFi via a powerline extender. The ethernet-connected laptop is constantly being disconnected, even when I try to connect using the WiFi. Download/Upload to the problematic laptop is currently 129.20/29.47 I never had these sorts of issues with Virgin and it's driving me up the wall.

[TimmyBGood]

@Bearmaker77 

What form of Ultrafast broadband from Sky do you have?  There's a known potential issue with Powerline and G.fast.

[Bearmaker77]

@TimmyBGood I have 'Ultrafast 1', which the app tells me is as good as I can have where I live.

The machine having issues connecting is plugged in to the router via a Cat5e cable, so I don't think the powerline extender would be a factor?

[TimmyBGood]

---

@Bearmaker77 wrote:

 I have 'Ultrafast 1', which the app tells me is as good as I can have where I live.

With an Openreach ONT for FTTP, or with the Sky Hub connected to a telephone wall socket?  The absence of higher speed suggests the latter, which would be G.fast.

G.fast broadband can be allergic to Powerline networking without any direct connection between the hardware: it's a side effect of injecting data signal into mains cable.

[Bearmaker77]

I think our internet arrives via the phone line from the pole outside.

The powerline extender is connected via a cat5e cable, same as the ethernet cable.

Could the powerline be causing interference? I think I will still be able to connect the second laptop wirelessly if I disconnect the powerline.

[TimmyBGood]

---

@Bearmaker77 wrote:

I think our internet arrives via the phone line from the pole outside.

---

Almost certainly G.fast, if there's no Openreach ONT in place.

I'd suggest trying without any Powerline adapters plugged in to any mains socket and see if it's then stable: that way you know where the issue is.

You wouldn't have encountered the same phenomenon with the previous Virgin connection because coaxial data transmission is fundamentally different to G.fast.

[Bearmaker77]

I've goven it a while to test during Teams meetings.

The connectivity is still very poor, even without the powerline adapter plugged in.

My WiFi connection is fine, as I am closer to the router.

At this point, we're considering seeing what the cancellation fee is like and going back to Virgin broadband 🤷