Home Computer Network With Powerline Ethernet Adapter

By Author: Ki Grinsing
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Building a computer network in your large home with two storey building is more difficult compared with a home with only one floor building and is sometimes frustrating. Thick concrete building generally contributes signal attenuation and dead spots in wireless. Running network cable is a hard work. But Powerline Ethernet adapter helps you build the network easily.

Should you build a home computer network from the scratch which consist of first floor where your Cable / DSL internet connection starts and the second floor where you would like to Expand the network wirelessly, you should assess your requirements to meet your needs. On the first floor, how many computers you need, how you connect them - wired or wireless. On the second floor, this is important because you need to connect the first floor to the second floor where a thick concrete building will be an obstacle whether you run the network cable or wireless access.

In the first floor where your router gateway (with 4x Ethernet ports) is located connects two desktop computers which are close each other with the gateway router - a wired connection for ...
... each of the computer is easier. You just need to run a network UTP cable from each of the desktop computer to the router Ethernet ports.
Now the challenge is how to connect several laptops with Wi-Fi enabled and other Ethernet based devices in the second floor to allow them connect and access the Internet? You have two options - you run a network cable from the first floor to the second floor, or you provide wireless access from the first floor to the second floor clients. To run a network cable from the first floor to the second floor you need an extra effort probably by drilling the hole or run the clutter of the wires that will just look untidy.

You can install a wireless access point in the first floor and allow client computers in the second floor connect wirelessly. But with the thick concrete building between the first and the second floor the wireless signal strength received by client computers in the second floor would be considerably weak. Your wireless performance in the second floor would be unsatisfactory.

The easiest way for your home computer network with two floors like this is to install a Powerline Ethernet adapter in the first floor and another adapter in the second floor. With Powerline Ethernet adapter, you can create high-speed secure building wide network using the power outlets in a single circuit breaker. The TPL-401E2K Trendnet Powerline Ethernet adapter is a new high speed adapter delivering the speeds of up to 500Mbps (theoretical) via the power outlets.

In this case, you can install one TPL-401E2K in the first floor and connect to the Ethernet port of your router gateway. And then you can install other Powerline adapters in each of the available power outlets in home as necessary to meet your need. Install one adapter in the second floor where you would like to install the wireless access point.

What this TPL-401E2K Does

Trendnet TPL-401E2K Powerline Ethernet Adapter is a high speed adapter via power outlets delivering the speeds of up to 500Mbps (in ideal conditions). The adapter is equipped with one Gigabit Ethernet port which is ideal in delivering high speed applications such as streaming High Definition (HD) media and smooth gaming. You can deploy up to 16 adapters in a network. For security connection, the adapter supports advanced 128-bit AES data encryption.

One thing to remember in deploying the Powerline Ethernet adapters in a building is that the adapters must be in a single circuit breaker system. If there are two circuit breaker systems in your building, to cover the whole building network you need to make a link between the circuit breakers. You need to install one adapter in one circuit breaker and another adapter in the other circuit breaker and link them as a bridge.

Now you can successfully build your home computer network providing wired connection in the first floor and wireless access in the second floor using the TPL-401E2K Powerline Ethernet adapter as a bridge between the floors via power outlets eliminating the clutter of the wires.

By Ki Grinsing

Ki Grinsing has prolonged years of working experiences in IT projects, graduated from a technical college with the additions of MCSE and CCNA certifications. Please visit more articles: home computer network and computer network diagram