The authors report the electroabsorption response of strained multiquantum well In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs structures as a function of increasing barrier thickness. We find that a tradeoff exists between improved structural quality and reduced performance due to the increase in nonabsorbing material. However changing the barrier from 100 to, 200 Angstrom causes a 25% increase in the maximum absorption change and a significant lowering of the insertion loss.