Powerline network adapters use existing electrical lines in your home as if it were CAT 5e.
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6. No Wi-Fi Signal

Problem: Your office at home is so far away from your router that no Wi-Fi signal will connect.

Solution: The best and most obvious solution is to run a CAT 5e cable between the two points, but that's not a viable solution for many people who have neither the funds to get it done nor the skill to do it themselves.

Renters face another obstacle: Landlords who don't want holes poked through their walls and ceilings. If you find yourself in that rather large group of folk, all isn't lost. There's always Powerline networking gear.

If you're not familiar with the work being done by the Homeplug Powerline Alliance, check its website for the all the background. The gist of things is simple: You get two adapters. You plug one into an AC wall outlet near the equipment you want to network and the other in a wall outlet near your router.

Too Good To Be True?

As soon as you do that, the pair will begin to look for each other, and, once they find themselves, they start communicating. When that happens, you plug your computer gear into one of the adapters and your router into the other and you're networked. The adapters use the existing electrical lines in your home as if it were CAT 5e strung between the devices.

If that sounds too good to be true, in some cases it is. Despite being advertised at 300Mbs, at best the networking speeds probably hover around 802.11g levels (about 54Mbs). It might be slower as well or even totally ineffective.

The throughput speed depends on the condition of your electrical wiring (older wiring tends to be slower), what, if any, other loads you might have on those lines, and something called a phase leg. The latter is probably the most important factor if your goal is to have some network communication ability rather than none at all.