HomePlug

[Help Desk]

Can anybody tell me about the limitations of HomePlug from their own experiences? I would like 25+ devices to run through the same building having each device hooked up to an ethernet converter. The throughput should be around 1Mbps (for normal browsing and such).

Technical articles have detailed HomePlug as being able to traverse 300 meters of copper wire but doesn't detail the device limitations.

[homecomputeraid]

Sorry Help Desk,

I know it's not a new technology, but it doesn't seem to be widely implemented yet. I don't know much about it at all.

I did find this article: http://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/news/20...econdstory.html, but no maximum distance was specified.

Here's the HomePlug Alliance:

http://www.homeplug.org/en/index.asp

This HomePlug Router says its maximum transmission distance is 200m:

http://www.aartech.ca/product_info.php/man...da/CXP-RTR.html

[-pops-]

My son did a trial of one of these things at his studio which was in a large office block.

Less than successful to say the least. The problem (apparently) was that there was a lot of office equipment in the vicinity (what else do you expect in a offices?). This caused mains spikes and interfered with the data transfer.

This was a few years ago and things may be improved now but, - - - -

[homecomputeraid]

Thanks for the feedback -pops-. I haven't known anyone who's actually used it. Considering how sensitive regular cat 5 cabling can be, it's hard to see how it could work well over 'noisy' power lines. I don't know from my own experience though.

[Help Desk]

Well I've looked long and hard and have found the following.

Some say 200m is the longest while others say 300m. It works more like a wireless signal but the signal is confined to the copper wire. Also it has 56bit encryption built in.

That is all good news and here is the bad.

Only 15-16 devices can be attached to the same network. It seems the more devices you have, the worse it makes it for the other connections. When you start with 12-14mbps, you will find this quickly drops with more devices.

This kind of seems like a "dud" technology for now. I am amazed that all the SOHO router manufacturers have one or more HomePlug device. This could be because of HomePlug AV.

HomePlug AV is the next generation of networking over powerlines. It has a theoretical limit of 200mbps and an acutal around 100mbps. I have found no information about the number of devices that can be on the same network.

A major aspiration of HomePlug AV is "Smart" audio and video equipment. Imagine you get a new DVD player, come home and plug it's power into the wall and you are done. Both it and your TV find each other and you can play videos without running extra cables. This can also be applied to stereos and similar devices.

You can expect to see HomePlug AV networking devices appearing in 3-6 months.