When AirPort is not enough

Has your home network been letting you down lately? If you’ve experienced any of these warning signs, it could be time to upgrade it:

You have dead spots around your house where you can’t get wireless coverage.
Your collection of wireless devices is growing rapidly, and network speeds are slowing as a result.
Nearby networks are creating interference.
It takes forever to perform a network backup.
Streaming video looks choppy, even in the next room.
You want to do more multimedia streaming—a whole-house wireless music system such as Sonos or Squeezebox.

Even the latest AirPort Extreme () or Time Capsule () base station alone may not be able to handle all of these large bit-pushing tasks.

Maybe you’ve been expanding your wireless net around the house, and those far-flung wireless devices aren’t receiving data fast enough; throughput falls rapidly the farther you go from the base station. Or maybe you’re putting more data on that network than AirPort alone can handle: a 10GB backup can take an hour or more over Wi-Fi, and even occasional dropouts in a live video stream are unacceptable.

But there are three solutions to these problems: you can augment your AirPort network using wired Ethernet, more Wi-Fi hardware, or powerline adapters. In the pages that follow, we’ll explain these three alternatives, when they make the most sense, and how to implement them.

Note: These aren’t either/or choices. You can use Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and powerline, or any combination thereof, on the same network at the same time.

When AirPort is not enough

If Apple's wireless hardware isn't doing the job on its own, here are your best alternatives.

Buyer's Guide: Ethernet Switches

If your Airport network isn't keeping up with your family's demands, you might need to upgrade it. Your first choice: Good old wired Ethernet. Here's how to choose and install the right hardware.
Buyer's Guide: Wi-Fi Routers

While Apple's own Airport base stations work fine, sometimes third-party wireless hardware makes more sense. Becky Waring explains how to buy and install WiFi routers from other vendors
Buyer's Guide: Powerline Networking

If your wireless networking isn't doing the job, the solution could be in your walls: The powerlines that transmit electricity can also transmit data. Here's how to take advantage of them.