I've had a few issues with my wireless internet connection at home.  I tell a lie, I've had a lot of issues with it.  

Problems setting up my wireless connection

First of all, it took me ages to get the thing to work.  My laptop could see all the other wireless connections in the street, and some from a few streets down as well probably - but couldn't see the one a few feet away from it.

After playing around with it (when I say play, there was no fun element involved) for what must total up to be quite a few hours of my valuable time (I could have been playing poker instead) - it eventually worked.  For a few moments anyway, before dropping the connection and refusing to pick it back up again.  This seemed to be the pattern, and it didn't look as though it would ever be a good long-term solution.

Wireless interference

There was another problem.  We use a digisender system to send the Sky signal from the box in the living room to other TVs around the house.  The wireless router interfered with the digisender signal.  That wasn't good.

So it was a choice.  Either lose the digisender (which works absolutely brilliantly, and the quality of the picture and sound on the other TVs is as good as that on our main telly), or give up completely on the wireless connection.

I decided that the wireless connection was the loser, and it didn't take me long to come to that conclusion.

But now I had another problem.  I want to access the internet around the house on my laptop.  Other than laying lots of CAT5 cable throughout the house (Michelle would have loved that), how else was I going to be able to play poker and update the blog anywhere except for via the desktop in the spare room?

Then I found the solution.  HomePlug. 

Data and Power through the same wires

What this does is use the existing mains wiring in your house to send a signal.  Plug another compatible unit into any plug socket in the house, and you can receive this signal.

I investigated it further, and although it sounded like the ideal solution for me, I was still unsure as to how good it would be.  What would happen when someone switches a light on, would my internet connection be lost?  What about when the washing machine kicks into a fast spin - will I lose my connection half-way through a vital poker hand?

I read a number of reviews, and no one seemed to say anything other than it works, the speed is good, and it's very reliable.

So I bit the bullet and bought a ZyXEL PL100 85Mbps Powerline Starter Kit. 

It took me less than 4 minutes from getting it out of the box, running the set-up software, plugging in the boxes, attaching my laptop to the second box and bingo - I'm connected to the internet.

No hassles, worked first time, and has continued to work everytime since.  I tested my connection speed  and am getting over 20MBits/sec - which is 10 times what I was getting via my wireless connection (which I was obviously having problems with).

Obviously, it's not as 'wireless' as wireless.  I need to plug the second box into a plug socket and link it to the laptop with a cable, but I need to plug my laptop in for power anyway - so it's no hardship.  I can now access the internet via my laptop in any room in the house, and even in the garden with an extension cable (although I won't be doing that very often until it warms up a bit…).

Zyxel PL100 Review - Conclusion

So the Zyxel PL100 gets a definite 10/10 from me - and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who for whatever reason is struggling and needs an alternative to a wireless connection.  It's also useful if you have wireless blackspots, or if you want to expand a wireless network over a larger distance.

At £80 it wasn't cheap, and it's only going to be a valid alternative to a wireless connection if there is a problem with using wireless.  

Fortunately, it's already paid back more than what it cost me.  I've managed to win more than enough to cover the costs of the system in the first two evenings playing poker, and now I don't need to be shut away from the world when I play.