Note to armchair troubleshooters nearby: It seems to be a passthrough connection from one of these: https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/powerline/tl-pa

Note to armchair troubleshooters nearby: It seems to be a passthrough connection from one of these: https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/powerline/tl-pa7010p-kit/ https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/powerline/tl-pa70... There are two types of fan motors, AC and DC. A lot of small fans would be DC fans, which have their own power supply/converter. Larger ceiling fans are often AC fans. Depending on where you are in the world, one or the other type might be common for some applications. In my experience, a small desktop fan would be a DC fan. Both fan types have transient behavior at startup. It takes more energy to get the fan moving than to keep it moving. In principle, a basic fan looks something like a short circuit when the blades aren't turning. This startup behavior manifests differently for AC vs DC fans. For more, here's a good summary showing steady-state current draw (figs. 3/4) and startup (fig. 5). https://www.digikey.com/Web%20Export/Supplier%20Content/ComairRotron_25/PDF/Comair_Tutorial_BrushlessDCFans.pdf https://www.digikey.com/Web%20Export/Supplier%20Content/Coma... Maybe the passthru connection on the TP-link doesn't like the inrush current demand -- and it's not the outlet itself.