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If you’ve got Broadband Internet from FLOW of LIME, you probably may have noticed that you can’t get Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) everywhere in the house. Some part of your house may have thicker walls with more metallic structures. As such, metal i.e. steel, zinc nails, iron grills attenuate radio waves and thereby shorten the 100m range of most Routers. This is both Good and Bad: makes it harder for hackers to access your Wi-Fi Network but reduces your home Wi-Fi Network to literally sitting beside the supposedly 100m range Router.

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So what can you do, especially a report published on Wednesday April 17th 2013 by Independent Security Evaluators states that the top Wi-Fi Routers on the market are easily hackable due to security holes in the firmware, which many don’t make easy to regularly update?

Simple problem: go stealth on the Bad guys and get a Power-Line Adaptor. This is basically a device that uses the Electrical Wiring in the house to create an Ethernet Network without having to run Ethernet Cable (IEEE 802.3) and crimp on RJ-45 ends.

There are two (2) standards for Power-Line Adaptors for what effectively Powerline Broadband, minus the technical jargon about wave-shaping the Noisy 50-60Hz 110VAC Waveform to carry Broadband Internet:

  • HomePlug AV

  • Powerline AV 500

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The Advantages of using a Power-Line Adaptor include:

  • Speed caps of 200Mbps for HomePlug AV (IEEE 1901) and 500Mbps for Powerline AV 500

  • Lower Latency as it’s a Wired Network

  • Ability to extend your Router’s Internet signal beyond the reach of your Wi-Ri Router

  • Actually makes your Wi-Fi Router more secure, as with the reduce range being extended by the houses Electrical Wiring, it makes it difficult for hackers to gain access as described in How to access any WEP or WPA/WPA2 Wi-Fi Network that has a password

Thus you can extend your Broadband Internet to any part of the house that has a Standard Electrical 110VAC Outlet with a few simple steps, after you read the manual of course:

  1. Connect a Power-Line Adapter that comes with the package to one of the Router’s Ethernet Ports and then to the Standard Electrical 110VAC Outlet

  2. To get Internet elsewhere, connect a Power-Line Adapter into a Standard Electrical 110VAC Outlet and use a CAT5 Ethernet Cable (IEEE 802.3) with standard RJ-45 ends to connect to your Laptop or other Wi-Fi Router

  3. Repeat the process at any Standard Electrical 110VAC Outlet in the house where you need Internet Access

So now that I’ve peaked your interest in Power-Line Adaptors, here’s a list of the Top Power-Line Adaptors, courtesy of CNET’s resident Wi-Fi Expert Don Ngo, all of which you can purchase on Amazon:

  • Trendnet Powerline 500 AV Nano Adapter Kit (TPL-406E2K)

  • ZyXel PLA4205 500 Mbps Powerline Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

  • Actiontec 500 Mbps Powerline Network Adapter Kit

  • Netgear Powerline AV+ 500 Adapter XAV5501

  • D-Link DHP-540 PowerLine AV 500 4-Port Gigabit Switch

  • D-Link DHP-501AV PowerLine AV 500 Adapter Starter Kit

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That’s it folks. Best of all, it’s a fairly simple way to secure your Home Network from Wi-Fi hackers. Truth be told, any method other than updating the Firmware on your Wi-Fi Router or limiting the range of your Wi-Fi Network so unscrupulous individuals outside of your house can’t pick up the signal will not keep you safe. All they need is a decent three (3) bars worth of signal and they can get access your Wi-Fi Network, no matter your password complexity or encryption Type.

Using Power-Line Adaptor does exactly that as in effect, the Power-Line Adaptors are a Defence against the Dark Arts against Hackers, Harry Potter Style! More time fellow Jamaicans and be careful with your Wi-Fi Network; It’s a Jungle out There.

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