Powerline Adapter Throughput Estimator

Why the number on the box is not your speed

Powerline adapter boxes shout "2000 Mbps!" — but that is the PHY rate: the raw signaling speed on your electrical wire before modulation overhead, error correction, encryption, and the half-duplex nature of powerline take their cut. In real homes, TCP throughput lands at roughly a quarter to a third of the advertised number on good wiring — and far less on old wiring or across circuit breakers. A typical AV2 2000 kit delivers 300–450 Mbps in a modern home, and under 100 Mbps in a difficult one. This estimator turns the box number into an honest expectation before you spend money.

How the estimate works

The calculator multiplies the advertised rate by four reality factors. First, adapter class efficiency: AV kits keep about 30% of the advertised rate, AV2 about 35%, and G.hn about 40%. Second, wiring quality: modern copper carries the full factor, older copper about 70%, very old or aluminum wiring about 45%. Third, distance and breaker hops: same-room links keep 100%, same-floor different rooms about 75%, different floors about 50%. Fourth, electrical noise: motors, cheap chargers, and dimmers can shave another 20–40%. The result is then capped by the adapter's own Ethernet port — most kits only have a 100 Mbps or gigabit port — and compared against your internet plan.

Worked example

Take an AV2 2000 kit in a modern home, adapters on the same floor, normal household noise, on a 500 Mbps plan. The math: 2000 × 0.35 × 1.0 × 0.75 × 0.8 = 420 Mbps realistic throughput — just 21% of the box number. The gigabit port (940 Mbps ceiling) is not the limit here, and 420 Mbps covers 84% of the 500 Mbps plan: a "Good — fast enough" verdict with a little headroom. Put a cheaper AV 600 kit across floors in an old house with noisy wiring (600 × 0.30 × 0.7 × 0.5 × 0.6 = 37.8 Mbps) and it collapses to under 40% of even a 100 Mbps plan — money better spent on a mesh node or an Ethernet run.

Practical tips

Plug adapters directly into wall outlets — power strips and surge protectors murder powerline signals. Keep both adapters on the same electrical phase and, ideally, the same breaker for best results. If your plan is under 100 Mbps, even a basic AV 600 kit is usually plenty; above 500 Mbps, only G.hn 2400 with a 2.5 GbE port has a real chance. And remember the port ceiling: a 2000-class kit with a gigabit port can never deliver more than about 940 Mbps no matter how clean the wiring. When in doubt, nothing beats a real Ethernet cable — this tool tells you whether "good enough" is close enough.