PLEASE NOTE - The manufacturers of the chip which is at the centre of this wireless powerline network adaptor have ceased it's production for some reason. We are urgently seeking an alternative and think we are very close to success. This adaptor has been a very reliable solution to hundreds of wireless networking problems for our customers and we are as sad as you probably are to see it's demise. If you would like us to keep you informed about our progress in finding an alternative please click on the picture to the left and then send us a short note through the "ask us about this item" button.
** UPDATE 1st October 2009 - We were hoping to receive our first batch of the replacement wireless powerline adapter during the first week of October. This has now been put back a couple of weeks to the middle of the month.
Despite how easy it is to set up a powerline ethernet network there is no denying that sometimes a wireless connection would be convenient. Problems arise, however, when the wireless access point or wireless router is a few rooms away, or maybe even on a different floor, and the wireless signal needs to travel through walls and ceilings to connect.
There can be few people who have not experienced the frustration of the problems walls and ceilings cause to wireless networks, with signal drop-outs, network slow downs and interruptions being all too common.
A wireless powerline ethernet adapter is an ideal way to get around those problems, lending itself to both the plug and play simplicity and reliability of a powerline ethernet network, and the handiness and convenience of wireless networking.
Once your powerline network is setup, most of the network signals would travel along the mains cabling in the building, as usual. A wireless powerline network adapter will detect and join the network once it is plugged in, as is the way with practically all powerline ethernet network adapters, but it will act as an interface between that network and the wireless device you are trying to connect.
Put simply, then, the wireless signal from your laptop is picked up by the wireless powerline network adaptor and converted in to a wired signal and then transmitted along the mains wires to the rest of the network meaning that the distance to the internet router, file server or printer, for example, is irrelevant to the wireless signal because the powerline wireless adapter is likely to be in the same room as you and so the wireless signal only needs to travel a short distance.
The number or thickness of walls and ceilings becomes an irrelevance, and your wireless network will begin to work in exactly the way you thought it would when you originally bought it.
To form a powerline ethernet network with a powerline wireless access point you would require 1 x PL85PEW as shown on this page, and 1 x PL85PE powerline ethernet network adapter as shown here - http://www.powerlinenetwork.co.uk/solwise-pl85pe-powerline-ethernet-network-adaptor.asp. The PL85PE would plug in to a convenient wall socket close to your network switch or router and connect using the supplied cat 5 cable, and the wireless powerline adaper would plug in to a wall socket close to where you wish to use your wireless ethernet device.
