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I have been reading on many A/V forums that people use line conditioners to improve the quality of the video and sound in their entertainment systems.
And this got me thinking. Would adding a line conditioner to a switch / router / modem improve my network performance? I know it wouldn't necessarily improve network performance outside of my local network, but would it improve my internal network performance?
It would not do anything to improve network performance.
Line conditioners are basically voltage regulators that smooth out the normal power fluctuations present in the electrical grid. Analog systems such as AV equipment benefit from this because they are sensitive to these fluctuations, and they can introduce unwanted noise into the signal.
Ethernet is a purely digital communication system. Switches/routers/modems/etc. convert the analog AC sine wave into a DC baseband signal using their own internal voltage regulators. The only thing a line conditioner could possibly do for digital equipment is maybe extend the lifespan of a digital device. And even then, that's only a concern in situations where you have really dirty power to begin with.
I disagree. (1) while the information is digital, the signal is analog...Even considering CPU to memory communications...the speeds we run require analog engineering to MAKE the digital work. (2) Power: Is your access point POE, did you run your Cat 5/6 in parallel to power lines in your home? Power in can be fine, the quality of the components and design of the unit can induce noise itself...(3) Shielded Vs. non-Shielded, Cat 5 V Cat 6..These are explicitly improved quality reduced noise and faster protocols...essentially over a twisted PAIR of RX/TX.
