You get these things free with BT Vision boxes, and for ages I didn’t bother using them because I didn’t need to. After moving to a flat where everyone appears to have 802.11b/g/n routers I get a hell of a lot of interference (15 APs in the area) making wireless fairly rubbish. I’d already used 2 of the powerline adapters to route the internet connection from the room where the BT line comes in to a second router in the lounge, but have now set up a 3rd powerline adapter on the other side of the room so I now have wired access where I need it, without wires all over the place.

Setting up 2 of these things is easy, more than that gets a little bit fiddly, especially if you chucked out the manual, but I was able to get them going using this handy guide on the Comtrend Powerline Adapters.

Edit March 2010:

A lot of people seem to be getting here looking for the manual to them. The latest of these would be on the Comtrend website, or you can just click here for the PG902_User_Guide UK, and here for the Powerline Quickstart Guide. Handy stuff.

They look like this

They look like this

This is great as it’s much cheaper than having to replace my existing b/g Netgear for a 802.11a or dual radio router. Well, I think great.

ComTrend Powerline Adapters are available from BT for £80 a pair (nuts) or cheaply available on eBay at about £40 a pair (much better).