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Fortunately, I found out from an Atheros contact (formerly from Intellon, which was acquired by Atheros) that all AFCI breakers are not the same. Here's what he said:
AFCI circuit breakers can harm HomePlug signals depending on the design of the breaker. If the design has an inductor in front of the power supply bridge, there is little if any impact on HomePlug signals.
Square D and Eaton AFCIs have this arrangement and are very HomePlug-friendly; it is fortunate that these brands have a large market share. Some other manufacturers (such as Siemens) have a capacitor in front and this is detrimental to HomePlug signals.
You can include Murray AFCIs, which are in my home, in the "bad AFCI" list, too. I priced Square D replacements at around $50 each, so I haven't yet swapped out the Murrays! But all of my HomePlug test locations are no longer behind any AFCI outlets.