Powerline Adapters: Extend Your Network

If your home network doesn’t reach the furthest corners of your house, maybe because some rooms are too far from the router, or a thick stone wall blocks your Wi-Fi signal, powerline adapters are a potential solution. But what are they, and how do they work?

There are many reasons why your home Wi-Fi network doesn't reach into every part of your house. The router's wireless signal might not have the range to get to the furthest rooms, or the walls might be very thick and heavy, which makes it difficult for Wi-Fi to penetrate. So maybe you need to make a cabled connection to one of the router's Ethernet ports, but don't want to trail Ethernet cables through the house. Powerline adapters are a potential solution for extending both your wireless and cabled network, using your home's electrical cabling as data cables.