Network your computers using mains power

What’s available?
There are many different types of powerline adapter and you may run into compatibility issues if you try to link up adapters from two different manufacturers.

If you want maximum flexibility, it’s worth opting for a powerline adapter that adheres to an industry specification – you will then be able to use your powerline adapter with adapters from manufacturers that use the same specification.

The best-known powerline specification is Homeplug. At present, there are three Homeplug specifications: Homeplug 1.0, Homeplug Turbo and Homeplug AV.

The main difference between the three is their maximum speeds, which we will discuss in more detail in a moment.

Some manufacturers, such as Netgear and Panasonic, use their own proprietary powerline technology in their adapters.

This means that although they operate in much the same way as Homeplug adapters, they will not always be able to talk to products made by other brands. Of course, if you decide you only want to buy powerline adapters from Netgear, for example, this is not a problem.

If you want to guarantee compatibility, it’s best to purchase the same make and model of adapters for your entire powerline network. And, as always, if you buy in bulk you will often get a discount.

Other considerations
As well as using different technology, powerline adapters also come with different features. For example, although most powerline adapters have a single Ethernet port, there are those, such as the Netgear XE104, that come with multiple ports.

The advantage of these multi-port models is that you can hook up more than one device using the same powerline adapter.

You will, of course, need to make sure all devices are close enough for the Ethernet cables to reach the powerline adapter.

If you are short of power sockets, you could consider buying a powerline adapter with a pass-through power socket, such as Solwise' Net-PL-200AV-Piggy.