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[Rylan_S1]

For years I have used powerline connections in my home. I have never had any problems.

I have 2 DHP-308AVs and a 311 with WAP.

On Tuesday an engineer from Sky came out and replaced our Sky TV box. After he left we began to experience issues with our powerline unit behind the TV. The most common issue is that the homeplug LED flashes red indicating a poor connection. Occasionally it disconnects completely. All other devices in the house are fine.

Here's what I've tested

Moved the unit to the second socket in the same unit. No change.
Swapped the box behind the TV with a spare. Same issue. The one behind the TV flashes.
Swapped the unit I got from behind the TV with the one at the router. Same issue. The one behind the TV flashes.
Brought the 311 from upstairs and plugged it in behind the TV. It flashes.
Turned off the new Sky box. It's new after all. Same issue.
Unplugged everything behind the TV except the powerline to remove interference. Same issue.
Switched off everything on the same circuit. Same issue.
Disconnected the LNB cables from the Sky. They're new also and go into the wall 4 inches from the affected plug socket. Although the cables were passed through the existing hole so no chance he drilled through the power cable. Same issue.
Plugged in the 311 in the socket 6 feet away. Same issue. It cannot be a range issue.
Moved the 311 into other sockets in the house. No issue.
Plugged an extension cable into the socket and plugged the devices into that. Same issue.

The only thing I can think of now is that, for some strange reason, the 2 gang socket behind my TV has, after years of supporting homeplug perfectly, has gone bad.

I've done as much as I can think of.

Any ideas please. It's driving me mad and, without homeplug I have no Netflix or PS4.

[FurryNutz]

Has a factory reset been performed on all PL devices and set up from scratch in same room and on same circuit?

Has any thing else been added or connected in the home thats new, any new appliances or any changes to power wiring?

Can you test the PL devices at a different location, say neighbor, friend or families place to see if the problem follows?

[Rylan_S1]

No factory reset has been performed. The devices work normally when plugged into any other socket.

For that reason I've not tried at a neighbors. It works well in the socket 6 feet to the right.

I think we can assume that the powerline device is working OK but I'm willing to be proved wrong. For some reason,  the 2-gang socket behind my TV no longer seems to support any of my powerline devices.

So, did anything change in the wiring? No.
Was anything added? Yes, the Sky box is new but the fault continues with the Sky and everything else switched off.

[FurryNutz]

If the PLs work at a different location and different house, then I presume this one socket that they had been connected to would be the problem.

[Rylan_S1]

Yeah, this is my conclusion also. The question therefore remains; why has a socket that has supported powerline for over 10 years suddenly gone bad?

I just cannot think of a reason so I don't know what to do next.

[FurryNutz]

Change out the socket.
Might make sure the power cabling from the socket is good between it and the main power panel.
How old is the house?

[Rylan_S1]

The house is about 18 years old.

Since its only this one socket I'm considering having an electrician fit a new 2-gang socket about 1ft away.

[FurryNutz]

Have him check the lines and power too while he's at it. Seems like the socket maybe just bad. I hope that's all it is.

[Rylan_S1]

Wonder what did it though. Its worked fine for 10 years and then, the same day the Sky technician comes, it suddenly breaks.

[FurryNutz]

Possible bad socket or just over time that the socket has failed and timing was just right. 

[Rylan_S1]

Electrician coming out tonight.

As a sidenote, I also downloaded the Powerline Utility last night and, because it doesn't seem to work on newer operating systems, I reinstalled a spare laptop with Windows 7. Same issue - Viper32 crashes on startup.

Do you know of a way to make this work?

[FurryNutz]

Viper32? Is this something in the PL utility software?

[Rylan_S1]

Yes. Viper32.exe is the name of the executable for D-Links powerline utility. Doesn't run on any machine I tried.

I contacted support about it a few months back who advised this was a known issue on Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10 machines.  Seems we can't sue the powerline utility at all these days.

[FurryNutz]

What version of Windows 7 are you using?
What platform? x32 or x64?
What region are you located?

Did you run the executable with Admin rights or just click on the file to launch it?
Can you look at Windows Event Logging and Application and Sytem sections to see what it reports when you see this app crash?
I wonder if using a different model PLC utility like the 701 would work or if the software is model specific. The 701 is newer and may support newer versions of windows. Windows 7 should work. These units are older so code was based for XP I presume.