Re: Homeplugs


"David WE Roberts" <davidweroberts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:81jm56Fl44U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Having seen that my Bush HD sattelite box now has network settings, I need a network.

Does anyone know of homeplugs (ethernet over 13 amp circuit) which are better/cheaper than the Solwise ones?

http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-pl-85pe-mk2.htm

I have read the ongoing debate over RF emissions with some interest although it seems that there are some entrenched views.

A few points:

(1) The EMC articles are informative but I am not sure that they count as 'peer reviewed' in the way that major scientific papers are expected to be. The education and intelligence of the authors is not in question. The impartiality may be.

(2) The people who set and test to standards are usually intelligent and qualified. Sometimes overly so. I have personal experience of the OSI networking standards which were so complex and over engineered that they were never competitive commercially against the RFCs. However anyone who believes that the standards process drives the release of technology is naive. Marketing decides most things. BT no longer holds the technical high ground because it can't afford to. If competitors are shipping product then BT will no longer say 'we think this may not fully meet the strict interpretation of the standards'. They will say 'can we get away with it'.

(3) WiFi is becoming over crowded. There are only 13 channels available and AFAIK there is interference between adjacent channels. If everyone uses WiFi then they are going to swamp each other.

(4) WiFi is not particularly effective in domestic premises (see also (3) due in part to the large amount of metal strewn around the average house.

(5) Wired Ethernet is faster and more effective and more secure than WiFi. However WiFi is now the default option. This must tell you something about the relative costs and ease of implementation. Rewiring a house with Ethernet is messy and expensive. Unless you know of someone who can do this for you for under £100 including making good and supplying all components.

(6) Given (3), (4), and (5) there is an obvious market for a way of building a dometic network which does not involve WiFi and does not involve new fixed cabling. This is driving the Home Plug market which seems to be taking off quite well.

(7) Given (2)-(6) I would predict thet the Home Plug networks are here to stay. They are a working solution to an obvious problem. The consequences of trying to outlaw thousands (millions?) of Home Plugs which have been issued with an approval and thus been legitimately sold and distributed would be both interesting and expensive. It is almost certainly too late now.

(8) "It isn't fair" say the users of SW radio. How many of you are there? How many homes have home Plugs currently installed? Do the math then consult real life. O.K., it isn't fair but there is unlikely to be anything you can do about it but complain. Then relocate your equipment to somewhere outside the domestic environment where you can still get a clean signal. Or take up another hobby. Life sucks.

(9) We have already seen posts from people who have experienced interference from Home Plugs in adjacent premises. So this is another technology which will hit deployment issues as it becomes more common. Interesting to speculate what the next technology might be. I suspect it may be a variation on wireless with a broader spectrum allowance unless the issue with Home Plugs can be sorted as I can't see anything else obvious in the domestic infrastructure which can carry signals.

Central heating and water pipes? Hmm...to much plastic in use these days.
Cabling that can be surface run unobtrusively (thin as wallpaper)?
Supersonic audio carrier?
Conductive carpets?
Heisenbergs uncertainty principle?

Anyway, I've ordered a WiFi bridge thingummy from Amazon.
We shall see if it does the job.

Cheers

Dave R

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