Hybrid Home Network Wi-Fi Extender Solves Wireless LAN Coverage Problems

Getting consistent wireless coverage of Wi-Fi signals in a home can be difficult for consumers and poor coverage can also result in very low data transmission rates. Charles Maier from Atheros explained to me at the CES trade show that Wi-Fi and other home network systems can be combined to enable home and business users to get better Wi-Fi coverage and performance. This is becoming more important as there are new requirements to provide high capacity bandwidth for rich media services for Blu-ray players, set top boxes, and home media servers. To make this happen, Wi-Fi access points can use a smart interconnection system that can select and combine home network technologies such as Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Powerline data. One of the easiest ways to do this is for consumers to use Wi-Fi extender modules that can connect using HomePlug AV. The user simply plugs the extender into an outlet and push a pairing button that allows the HomePlug devices to identify and connect with each other. The pairing process allows for multiple systems to co-exist (such as in apartments). Another advantage of combining multiple networks and connection types, home network capacity can increase to over 500 Mbps.