wireless issue

Sorry, I don't use much wireless beyond my cellphone and mouse.

I've got a friend that bot one of those plugin "repeaters" (for want
of
a better term).
Its intended to use the house circuit for enhancing transmission on a lan.
It just up and died all of a sudden like.  He claims to not have added
anything new to the environment.

Are these thingies known to 1.) work and 2.) be reliable?

Thanks,

jg wrote:

> I've got a friend that bot one of those plugin "repeaters" (for
want
> of a better term).
> Its intended to use the house circuit for enhancing transmission on a
> lan. It just up and died all of a sudden like.  He claims to not have
> added anything new to the environment.
>
> Are these thingies known to 1.) work and 2.) be reliable?

There are competing technologies.  The best overview I've seen is the
one at HowStuffWorks.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/power-network.htm    Power-line
networking is one of several ways to connect the computers in your home.
It uses the electrical wiring in your house to create a network. -- In
this edition of HowStuffWorks, we'll talk about power-line networking
and the technology used to make it happen. We'll also discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of using a power-line network.

... but if you want to get into it in depth, the wikipedia articles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_line_communication &
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug_Powerline_Alliance  are good.

You would have to know what brand product the friend has to know which
technology is involved.

-- 
Mike Easter
kibitzer, not SC admin