We do not always have the best coverage through Wi-Fi networks and we must use other devices to enhance it. Something that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years is PLC devices. They allow you to take the Internet connection from one place to another, thus overcoming the coverage limitations of our router. But we must bear in mind that they are devices that are sensitive to different factors and we may have problems making them work well. We are going to talk about it in this article. We are going to explain why PLCs malfunction and also give some tips to avoid it if possible.
How PLCs work
PLCs work through the electrical network . They are normally made up of two devices, although they can be more. One of them connects to the router via an Ethernet cable and also to electricity. The other device (or the others, if there are several) is connected in another place in the house, also in a socket.
In this way, through the electrical network we can take the Internet connection from one room to another . We can bridge the distance of several tens of meters and not have to connect via Wi-Fi, something that could be a problem if the coverage is not good and have more limitations.
These devices will also allow you to connect other devices both by cable and by Wi-Fi. They act as one more access point and usually have good stability, except when conditions are not the best and problems appear, as we are going to discuss below.
What causes outages and problems
There are some factors that can especially affect PLC devices and not be able to take full advantage of their performance. This can happen regardless of the model we use. Some of these that we are going to show can be easily avoided, while others are going to be more complicated since they will depend on the installation that we have.
Use of rulers
The first cause that can greatly affect PLC devices is connecting them through power strips . This is a problem, especially when we also connect other devices to that power strip. It will decrease the power and affect the performance, which will result in a slower connection, cuts, etc.
This is so since we are not connecting the device directly to the current, but there is an intermediary. Only with that there will be a wear. The ideal is to connect it directly to the wall, both the one that we put near the router and the other that we place at the other end.
Use different circuits of the house
This means that the PLCs are going to be separated, at least, by a circuit breaker. Our house is divided into several circuits and if we place a PLC in one and the other in another, we can see that the quality of the signal decreases.
It does not mean that the PLCs will not work, but it does mean that we will notice a worse performance. In the end, they will have a greater wear and it is as if we had them connected further away. We will have more cuts in the connection and will have to restart the devices more frequently to solve it.
Plug a device into the PLC
Some models have a built-in power connector . It may seem that this is interesting, since if there are few plugs where we are, we can put another device connected to it. For example we can plug in a computer, a television or anything.
However, it is not such a good idea in reality. Anything we connect is going to decrease the quality of the signal and we will have more problems connecting through these PLCs. The amount of electrical noise that is going to be introduced by that additional device is going to cause loss of performance.
Something similar happens when we connect PLCs near other electrical devices. For example, if we have appliances such as an oven or a ceramic hob, the signal may decrease and we will have significant problems establishing the Internet connection and cuts may appear.
We can also apply this when we have devices connected to a plug near the PLC. For example, if there are several devices, such as television, video player, a NAS server… This will negatively influence the signal.
Use of UPS
UPSs are devices that allow us to maintain a power supply system and avoid cuts if we run out of electricity. They are used a lot together with computers, for example. But for what interests us, which is to prevent PLC devices from malfunctioning, it must be said that they are also a bad friend.
These devices, as in the case of the appliances we mentioned, can affect the signal. We could have problems surfing the Internet, to ultimately have a good connection.
We must also take into account the installation of our home. Unlike the previous cases, this time we will not be able to do much to solve it. If we use old wiring, the PLCs may not work well and we may not be able to carry the connection from one room to another without interruptions.
What we should do is avoid connecting the PLCs too far away in these cases. The same if the installation is more recent we can place them several tens of meters without problems, but if the wiring is old we would have more limitations in terms of distance.
Getting PLCs to work properly depends primarily on the installation and where we place them. There are certain factors that we are going to be able to control, such as not connecting them through a power strip or not putting other appliances nearby that can interfere with the signal and cause cuts or slow Internet speeds.
However, there are other factors that we will not be able to control. If the installation is old, there is little we can do. However, this is where we must strengthen even more to avoid the problems that we have seen that do depend on the user and how we place the PLCs. This will help to be able to take the signal from one place to another without problems appearing and always achieving maximum speed.