Causes for Alert Commander Powerline Strength test warnings

The strength and performance of powerline devices can be affected by various environmental factors, such as:

• Wiring in the home (ex. unterminated lines, length of runs, aluminum vs. copper). 
• Size of the home (HomePlug AV works best in homes under 8000 sq ft). 
• Appliances currently running on the same powerline.
• Other high-current or noisy electrical devices running on the powerline (ex. aquarium motors, treadmills, hair dryers, vacuum cleaners, Blu-Ray players, gaming systems).
• HAM radio transmissions.

  NOTE: HomePlug AV does try to avoid the frequencies used by HAM radios, but if you're actively transmitting, the HAM radio may interfere.

• Plugging a powerline networking device into a UPS, surge protector, or line-conditioner 

  NOTE: HomePlug technology uses higher frequencies over the powerline, and a surge protector or UPS will try to remove these higher frequency signals. Surge protectors are built into each Logitech Alert device.

• Whole-house surge protectors. 
• HomePlug devices (such as cell phone chargers or dimmer lamps) or powerline devices (especially problematic are ones that don't co-exist well with HomePlug, like DS2). 
• Other powerful electromagnetic (EM) radiation.
• Some AFCI breakers effect HomePlug performance more than others.

  If the design has an inductor in front of the power supply bridge, there is little if any impact on HomePlug signals. If there is a capacitor in front, it affects the signal more. According to http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-basics/31238-slow-homeplug-five-ways-to-boost-powerline-network-speed, Square D and Eaton AFCIs generally work well with HomePlug.

• Connections should work across different phases in the house, but the performance could be somewhat affected.

Launching the Powerline Strength test:

1. Open the Logitech Alert Commander.

2. On the right-hand side of the pane, click Open settings (the gear icon).

3. Click Diagnostic.

4. Click Powerline Strength.

You can find more information about powerline strength issues in these FAQs:

• Understanding Powerline Strength test warnings (see answer 360023405973).
• Addressing Powerline Strength test warnings (see answer 360023405973).
• Additional Causes for Powerline Strength test warnings (see answers 360023405973 and 360023405973).