[bens1901]

Hi. I've read a number of articles about home networking tools that use the home's electrical wiring for the network. Could someone recommend a product? How satisfied are you? How difficult/easy to setup?

Thanks in advance.

-Ben

[voodoo]

Hey there!

I used to have the internet through the electic network and I must say I enjoyed it. It would be available from a local energy company I assume. That is the way I got it.

Pros:
same upload/download speed

can reach 1+ Mbits/sec

can use virtually any electrical outlet in your home

like with cable modems you'll get yours from the ISP so you don't have to pay for it

price is about the same as for cable modems

works seamlessly with Macintosh computers

Cons:

not widely available

can be suspect to interferance in the electric network from time to time

---

all in all worth looking in to!

[bens1901]

I guess I should expand on what I'm looking for. I currently have a Cable Modem. I would like to have that Internet connection go into some device that would plug into the wall socket...allowing me to connect a computer to the 'net from any wallsocket in the house.

Does such a device exist? Have I misunderstood the idea of the home eletrical line network?

[voodoo]

Originally posted by bens1901:
Have I misunderstood the idea of the home eletrical line network?

yeah looks like it.

[bens1901]

Originally posted by voodoo:
yeah looks like it.

Thanks for your thoughts. It's interesting that there are ISP services that use powerlines. If I can find the service that you've described, that may be a good option to consider.

I did some more digging and found what I was looking for. Here's the link if anyone else is interested:
CNET Home Powerline Overview & Products

Thanks :-)

[Chinasaur]

bens,

MacWorld had a review last year of some products, but I couldn't find the article ... you might search there and have better luck than I did

[winky]

I use 3 Phonex Broadband power line modems. They work perfectly throughout my 5000 square foot house. I even use one at my pool. I am sure the other products work as well.

Plug and play I say.

[kanker]

Go to http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=4359-PNEN This enables ethernet LAN through your electrical outlets, although I'm going to assume that you'll need one of these bad boys for each computer location.

Kevin

[pliny]

powerline networking seems like a good alternative to wifi, it provides a more secure connection and can be faster since it is a hardwired conenction (it uses the electrical lines of the home wiring, at a different frequency to avoid interference).

The speed advantage over wireless comes when you have to go through several walls or floors. The cost is about 75 per interface, which is comparable to buying a wireless router.

i am setting one up now using the linksys ethernet bridges. the bridge is a device that has an ethernet port--you plug the mac/pc/router into the bridge's port, and the bridge plugs into an outlet. (there are also bridges that connect the mac using a usb port.) wherever you have an outlet and a short ethernet cable (or usb port), you have an internet connection provided there is another device somewhere on the electrical network with internet access.

you need one powerline interface per each device wanting to connect to the powerline network, in this case, a router on one end and a pc on the other. buying a wireless router and wireless card would have run me about 150-175, powerline networking is costing me about 150.

i'll report back with results in a few days once i have the gear.

[pliny]

The powerline networking bridges from Linksys didn't work, not sure why, but perhaps the age of some parts of the wiring is the culprit (the house is over 100 years old). Though the power network where the bridges were to be connected, were very new, so go figure.

Anyway, the powerline networking didn't work. I bought a wireless g router and a wireless card (both from Netgear) instead and this works like a charm. Very good speeds, nearly 100% to capacity a good part of the time. This is much faster than the maximum rated throughput of the powerline bridges.