Despite my earlier lamentations about running a home office network I do want to make a recommendation for anyone that is setting up a network in their house.  Definitely check out powerline network gear as an alternative to wireless.  FYI, powerline networks allow you to plug a network cable from your router into a small converter that plugs into any power outlet in your house, then you plug other converters into any other outlet in the house and run network cables from those to the computers you want to connect to.

My office is the hub for our home network and is located on the top floor of the house.  The kids’ computer is just down the hall from mine and Celeste’s computer is downstairs.  Both are close enough that they shouldn’t have an issue with wireless signal strength but unfortunately they do.  Celeste in particular would have very sketchy connections that varied from moderate to very weak, and that made her online experience not-so-pleasant.

Last week I was reading a small-biz magazine and came across an article that said that the latest generation of powerline networking gear had eliminated a lot of the problems experience with the first generation gear back in the late 90s and now offered more reliable and faster connections than most wireless networks. 

On Friday I was in Staples and saw that they had a Netgear Wall-Plugged Ethernet Extender Kit – XE102G for $99.95.  Since that price matched what I found in my online searches I snagged it and brought it home.  The setup was incredibly easy:

1. Plug one adapter into a wall socket in my office.
2. Plug a network cable from our modem/router into the adapter.
3. Plug the second adapter into a wall socket in Celeste’s office.
4. Plug a network cable from the adapter into Celeste’s computer.

I did this and fired up her browser and found that she was connected and had great connection speed.  The only problem that we’ve found is that certain appliances, like a vacuum or hairdryer, can slow down the connection by providing a little interference but it’s not a major issue.

According to Netgear’s info we can connect up to five devices in a similar manner so I’m probably going to get adapters for the kids’ computer and for the XBox 360 that the oldest son is saving up to buy.  That way he can game online and maybe we’ll see him on the weekends instead of having him disappear for two days to a friend-with-XBox 360’s house.

A couple of things to point out:

• You have to plug the adapters directly into the wall, and not into surge protectors.
• A great advantage in addition to the simplicity of these things is that they are more secure than wireless.  Unless someone plugs into your house’s power you shouldn’t have any security issues outside of normal internet security.  In other words your neighbor can’t piggyback your connection unless they plug an adapter into your house and then run a network cable to their computer.
• The exception to the security issue might be if you live in an apartment building.
• If you’re in a really old house without upgraded wiring you might have issues.
• I found this much easier to set up than any wireless network I’ve had in the house.  Who knows what the long-term performance will be but the short term has been fantastic.