Has anyone done this before? My wireless router is on the second floor and my laptop is downstairs on the first floor on the other side of the house. I can't move either of them. I've heard that you can still use a plug with a LAN port and run the signal through the house's electrical outlet. Just curious if anyone has done this before and if there were any problems. Thanks!
I've never actually owned one myself but I've known a handful people who've tried it and the results are mixed. In one case it was a very old and large building with thick stone walls that played havoc with wifi. Worked great there. Unfortunately all the rest seemed to have reservations, it'd drop out or not sustain a good transfer rate (in one case it simply wouldn't work across the house, only between bedrooms or something like that.) If you can get 802.11N working it'll probably be cheaper, faster and easier. If you do decide to go for a HomePlug kit or whatever, make sure you can return it if you have problems.
Is running a couple of cables along the outside wall of your house an option? Thats how we wired our house up a couple of years ago and is much better than any wireless network / homeplug solution. In the computer room we have an 8 port gigabit switch which the switches in the other rooms connect to. The wire comes out the wall where some plant is so you carn't really see it. It then runs along the top of the wall near the roof Then back in to the wall upstairs where it is wired up to a network wall point A 5 port gigabit switch is connected to the wall point in each room to allow multiple devices to be connected. Pulling the skirting board up, destroying the wall or running wires under the floorboards was a big no no when doing this. I think this was a pretty good way of doing it without creating a huge mess. It will involve a bit of work i know, however much cheaper than multiple wireless access points or home plugs. Your also guaranteed gigabit speeds, although realistically due to the speeds of most hard drives you will be lucky to see much higher than 400mbps transferring files between computers. Hope that gives you something to think about anyway.
Not sure if Japan uses 2 phase as they do in the states (where 240V comes in and is split into two 110V phases), normally the two rings are seperate and you may find that upstairs and downstairs may not talk to each other. You also cant use surge protection plugs so you may want to disconnect everything in a thunderstorm. Electrical devices like cookers, fridges and washing machines can also whack a lot of noise on the mains line which would drop your speed to near zero. You may find a better way to fix your problems is to buy another wifi router and use it as a repeater, putting it in another area so your two devices talk to each other better.
I've done it here in the UK with no problems, but I have no idea what your electrical wiring standard is like over there. If you use a different system, it may be that it's not possible there, as was previously stated. You'd need to research locally, really. Personally, I would favour having proper (solid core) CAT6 cable in the wall - but of course, not everyone is willing (or able) to go down that route. That, or just a repeater / access point. Doesn't have to be a full-on router.
Yeah, I was worried about the slight difference in electricity between the US and Japan. And I'd have to buy the plugs from the US since I can't seem to find them in Japan which was a bit of a red flag. Running a hard wire just isn't an option because of the layout and the fact that I rent. I'm heading back to the US for a visit in June. I'll probably pick up a new wireless N router. I've been with this Linksys WRT54G running DD-WRT for about 5 years now....it's probably time for an upgrade. I did throw the windsurfer parabola antennas onto the Linksys and saw a boost in quality....heh....
I've tried those powerline adapters before. I bought 2, the first one was "85mbit" and i never saw transfers faster than 2MB/sec. the second one was "150mbit" and i never saw anything higher than 8MB/sec. I woudln't reccomend them at all. There are too many variables, if your house is old (and has old wiring) you'll get terrible speeds. At the time I was living in a 8yr old townhouse and the speeds were still crap. Have you considered getting a DD-WRT box and cranking up the xmit power? I've got a WRT54G that's running @ 200mw. I'm sure you can find a wifiN based solution that'll let you hack the xmit power.
Power line internet works just fine. You should try making a beer can wifi channeler first. By cutting a beer can and directing the wifi from the router in one direction, you can get a good signal. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Wi-Fi-Booster-Using-Only-a-Beer-Can Remember Japan uses DIFFERENT wifi channels, so if your laptop is not Japanese, check the channel configuration.
Most laptops will use 802.11 b.g or n and for the most part the wifi channel issue is a moot points as Japan allows more channels to be used then America does, you are not allowed to use Channel 14 in America and it is a federal offence... Using a Japanese laptop in America may cause you minor issues but for the most part it is connect and go.
This ^ I bought "gigabit" homeplugs, obviously not expecting anywhere near that speed. I needed around 30mb for streaming video... I was lucky to get 8mb, scrapped it and went wireless N (5Ghz). (I have since moved and have now drilled and ran cable)
Have some running at home: homeplugs 200mbit, but depending where i stick them i get mixed results 5-15mbit and high latency. they also have to be connected directly to the wall plug, if i stick them in extenders I lose the signal. I like them anyway, just dont expect miracles.
