I just found this rather cunning alternative to a home wireless network. It’s a very simple adapter that allows you to send data down your home power network, at “85Mbps” speeds. That compares rather well to the (equally fictional) 54Mbps speed of WiFi (802.11g). (flash presentation)

It’s also much harder to hack into, and won’t interfere with an existing WiFi install. I have a feeling that this would work very well for connecting up all the ‘under the TV’ kit, instead of using up precious WiFi bandwidth for kits (consoles, remote music players) that never move, so don’t really need a wireless connection – there are plenty of wires there already!

Also, using power lines solves the problem that WiFi does tend to have going through walls – especially in 100-year-old apartment blocks like the one I live in!

Why bother? Why not just use WiFi for everything – the problem is that the radio spectrum is a limited resource, so every additional device on the network chops up the available bandwidth. So if, Bobble is trying to open a 50Mb image at the same time as I’m playing an online game, both tasks will have to share the same bandwidth, and will be slower.

It’s also not too expensive at about £120 for a pair.

If I wasn’t in a “saving money” mode I would go out and buy one right now – oh well, fingers crossed on that lottery ticket tonight, eh?

(product page, review, shop page)

technorati tags: wifi, powerline, ethernet, home, network, dLAN