Tuesday 22 September 2009

Wireless-less

I think I might have mentioned that I work in a shed in the garden.

When we knocked down the garage, re-did the patio and erected said shed, we arranged for a power cable to be buried under the concrete and supply all the electrical stuff I'd need. But I simply didn't think about Internet access. I thought I'd manage on a wireless connection.

And I did. But it's very patchy. I've tried different versions, and moved the equipment around, and have got fed up with the slow amd intermittent service that results.

And then someone suggested I buy a couple of these...

It's a HomePlug AV adapter, and a pair of them now deliver my broadband connection through that buried power cable under the patio.

After all the fuss and bother of secure wireless, there's something beautiful about this technology. It's plug and play... quite literally. It took less than ten minutes to install and get running. After a couple of weeks, I can say that it's quicker and more reliable.

So, that's a recommend. It's not wireless, of course. You can't use it to access your laptop on the kitchen table. But if you want access around the house, but don't want telephone cables everywhere, and can't be bothered with wireless...

2 comments:

Mikey Dred said...

A friend of mine is very paranoid about wireless and has his home network set up with this type of thing

Mark Greig said...

Brilliant, aren't they? Faster and more stable than wireless - which, incidentally, you can also get via a homeplug setup, if you buy into the right make. I run a home network of 2 desktops - one at the top of the house, where the ADSL line comes in, and another three floors below in the kitchen, and also use one of these wee cuties - http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-pl-85pew-mk2.htm - to plug in and give me a strong wireless signal wherever I need it. No blackspots! Tried running wireless initially, but it was horribly patchy over a tall and narrow Victorian terrace.

Complete convert, upgrading to the AV version which'll let me stream HD vid to the tv in the near future.