A common problem when you install your broadband is that the telephone socket, and therefore your broadband modem, is not where you want your computer to be. In a lot of houses, especially with the age of digital cordless phones, there is very little need for any extension sockets to be fitted in the house and therefore the only socket they have is the master socket originally installed by BT.
Call me a cynic but BT sockets appear to be installed as near as possible to where the cable meets the house and not anywhere convenient, in my house this is in the front room under the window and I have no other extension sockets. This is not a great place to have my computer so how do we go about getting it to my PC which is located in a spare bedroom upstairs?
If you know a little about networks then the two obvious answers are to either run a cable from the broadband router to my PC upstairs or use a wireless router to send my signal over the air. Well each of these has pros and cons but keep on reading as there is actually a third solution.
The advantage of cable is it provides a rock solid very high speed link to your home network and its fast enough to run just about anything you would ever want to run over it.
Running a cable from one end of the house to the other is not an easy task. You could just run it round the skirting board and tack it in place but at best its ugly and untidy, at worst it could be dangerous or impossible.
Another option would be to get a builder in and get them to "flood wire" (see definition below *1) your house and, while this is actually the best solution, its expensive, impractical in a lot of cases and not required by all but a few people. One caveat is that if you are currently building a new house you may want to consider getting it flood wired.
Wireless seems "magic" and we have all seen the adverts. Just plug in the wireless router and away you go. Surfing in the garden, upstairs, in the garage, on an inflatable dragon in the pool (seriously don't do this, your laptop hates water). The reality is very different.
Aside from the issue of security you also have the problems of dead spots where the signal doesn’t reach, interference from other equipment such as TV transmitters, wireless congestion and incompatible standards. The good thing with wireless is that if it is working you can sit on the floor, on the couch, lie on the bed, sit in the office and still have your internet connection right there with no cable clutter.
Lets look at these problems in turn.
DEAD SPOTS: Plug in your brand new wireless router, grab your laptop and head upstairs to read the latest football scores while enjoying your Sunday lie in. Perfect. Perfect that is until you find out that you can’t get a wireless signal in your bedroom. It is almost impossible for you to predict how far your signal will go. In my case I have the router in my living room and get a poor signal in there just a few metres from the router. If I go into the room next door I get a good signal. Head upstairs into the loft and the signal vanishes completely.
Frustratingly I can see the wireless signal from my neighbour two doors down and can see the unsecured signal from someone in the next street perfectly in every room of my house. (Hint: If you are naming and broadcasting your wireless network then don’t give it your surname or your address) Moving the router can help and try and place it close to the centre of the places you will use it. The best location for me is on top of the bookshelves which brings it closer to the bedrooms and gives a far better signal. Also read your router manual for advice on positioning the router as each one can be different.
INTERFERENCE: This can be caused by all sorts of devices. For example the one causing me issues at home is a TV transmitter someone next door is using to send the signal from their TV to an upstairs room.
Other culprits include cordless phones, microwaves, garage door openers and baby monitors.
What can you do if you get a problem? First of all try reading the manual for instruction on how to change the wireless channel of your router and see if that helps.
WIRELESS CONGESTION: This is starting to become a problem with the increasing number of wireless devices available. Imagine WiFi as being a swimming pool with each WiFi Channel being a lane. When you go for a swim on you own you pick any lane and swim to your hearts contents as fast or as slow as you want.
Now imagine a few more people want to swim, no problem, they just pick a lane and they swim in that lane right? Well, Yes AND No, in the WiFi world the lanes actually overlap a little so that if you are swimming in lane 1 and someone is swimming in lane 2 you are sharing a lot of the same space. Typical computers, its never simple is it? So, as more people want to go swimming it becomes harder to swim and once you get a lot of people down there then you can’t swim properly anymore. You just get barged about and the best you can hope to do is the odd quick sprint before being blocked off again. The bottom line, the more people that have WiFi near you the more problems you may have in getting a stable and quick connection.
INCOMPATIBILITY: WiFi is WiFi isn’t it? Sadly, the answer is no. There are a few major standards for WiFi such as 802.11b, 802.11g and 802,11n which, to simplify it, indicate the speed the connection can run at.. Again, simplifying things 802.11n routers, which are the newest should be compatible with the older standards 802.11g and 802.11b.
If you are unsure then for most people an 802.11g/b router that supports both standard should be more than adequate.
Finally I always employ a simple rule of thumb with WiFi, if you have the kit already then try it and if it works then great. If you are going out to buy it then make sure you buy all of your kit from the same manufacturer as its more likely to work together.
SUMMARY: Well that’s depressing isn’t it? Its actually not as bad as it seems. Most people plug in the router enter the settings and are good to go but its always good to be aware that not everything is as simple as it seems.
My own wireless trials and tribulations led me to try various expensive routers and I finally tried an old router that gave me the best stability, coverage and performance.
The ideal thing for running broadband around your house would be if you had cables in every room. Particularly if you have a desktop PC.
But most people don't have cables in every room do they? WRONG ! Look at your walls, the odds are that you have power scockets in every room in fact your PC is going to be plugged into one.
Clever people have managed to find a way for you to send your broadband signal round the existing wiring in your house using a system called “HomePlug”. Its as simple to fit as plugging something in and it turns your house power supply into your very own computer network.
Netgear Powerline HD When I needed to get my computer connection from my front room to the computer in my loft room I installed two of these. They are actually are a breeze to install and one there are really only two things to be aware of :
You need one adapter to pass the broadband signal onto the mains wiring. This should plug in near the router and then a network cable should be attatched between the Homeplug and the router.
Then you require another adapter for each computer you want to connect. These plug into the wall and then a network cable goes from your PC into the Homeplug.
I installed two of these and switched them on then waited about 30 seconds and the bright blue LINK light came on on the Powerline HD and I had an internet connection. Amazed at the simplicity I took another Homeplug and ran up to the loft and following the same process got another computer running in minutes.
Now, this is starting to sound like a Wireless advert with everything being rosy so what are the cons? Well, security is improved as you don’t blast the signal everywhere but it still goes out of your house a short way and it may be possible for your neighbours to pick it up with the right plugs unless you read the manual and configure the security but its impossible for someone sitting in a car outside to pick it up. Also, the high speeds quoted on the box are never reached as they are, like wireless speeds theoretical, but the speeds achieved far outstrip the wireless routers.
So there you go, three ways to get broadband round your house all with pros and cons, personally I use a combination of all 3 but the PowerLine HD adapters are going to finally go as my house refurbishment progresses and I end up with a fully flood wired house.
Which should you choose? Well it depends on your computer. if its a laptop then you probably want to use it everywhere so maybe start with wireless. If its a desktop then I would try the Homeplug solution. If you are a laptop user with wireless deadspots then maybe you want to employ both.
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