Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part I: Wireless Networking Fundamentals
if you ask us, but this approach certainly provides as much as 1,000 Mbps if
you need it.
If you can run CAT-5e/6 cable and create an Ethernet network in your walls,
you should, so by all means do so! But most folks can’t do this, so these other
solutions are the way to go.
A more practical way to get your cable modem up to the third floor is to run
a powerline link between the two points. Think of this as one long extension
cord between your router or AP in the basement and your AP in your bedroom.
Although not all of these powerline technology links can carry data as
fast as an 802.11n Wi-Fi connection, they will likely exceed the speed of your
Internet connection. If that’s your primary goal, these are great, clean, and
easy options for you.
The powerline networking concept takes a little getting used to. Most of us
are used to plugging an AC adapter or electrical cable into the wall and then
another Ethernet cable into some other networking outlet for the power and
data connections. With powerline networking, those two cables are reduced
to one — the power cable! That electrical cord is your LAN connection —
along with all the rest of the electrical cabling in your house. Cool, huh? To
connect to your computer, you run an Ethernet cable from the powerline networking
device (router, AP, and so on) to your computer, hub, or switch.
Networking on powerlines is no easy task. Powerlines are noisy, electrically
speaking, with surges in voltage level and electrical interferences introduced
by all sorts of devices both inside and outside the home. The state of the
electrical network in a home is constantly changing, as well, when devices
are plugged in and turned on. Because of this, powerline networking systems
adopt a sophisticated and adaptive signal processing algorithm, which is a
technique used to convert data into electrical signals on the power wiring.
When it comes to powerline networking, you have the following options:
� HomePlug Networking: This is the granddaddy of powerline networks,
having been on the market for about ten years. Most equipment available
today, such as NETGEAR’s WGX102 Wireless Range Extender (www.netgear.com),
uses the original HomePlug standard (HomePlug 1.0), which
offers speeds of 14 Mbps. (The WGX102 actually uses a proprietary version
of HomePlug that is faster.) The HomePlug folks have developed a
newer version, called HomePlug A/V, which will, when it hits the market,
support speeds of over 200 Mbps.
� DS2 Powerline Networking: A Spanish company called DS2 (www.ds2.es)
has created their own powerline networking system that supports speeds
of up to 200 Mbps over home powerlines. This system is mainly used in