Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/03/netgear_poweline_av_500/
Netgear launches next-gen powerline Ethernet kit
But no Gigabit performance just yet
Posted in Hardware, 3rd September 2010 10:21 GMT
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Netgear [1] has announced what may well be the world's first consumer networking products based on the as-yet-unratified IEEE P1910 next-gen powerline Ethernet standard.
Netgear's Powerline AV 500 series comprises single-adaptor and two-adaptor starter kits. Each adaptor delivers speeds of up to 500Mb/s, Netgear said, fed through a Gigabit Ethernet port.
Of course, the devil is in the "up to", since no powerline product - or wireless, for that matter - has yet delivered real-world speeds that come close to the theoretical maxima used to market them.
Adaptors based on the 200Mb/s HomePlug AV standard, for example, are so unlikely to go beyond 100Mb/s that no supplier actually equips them with a better Ethernet connector than 10/100.
Belkin, for one, offers a "Gigabit" networking powerline adaptor - reviewed here [2] - and while it exceeds 100Mb/s, it delivers speeds a long way off 1000Mb/s.
The Belkin adaptor uses proprietary technology from chip maker Gigle [3], so it will be interesting to see how the Netgear kit, based on a spec defined by many different companies, fares. Even with a 500Mb/s cap, it could out-perform the Belkin adaptor - and will certain fly in comparison to 802.11n Wi-Fi.
IEEE P1901 is just one next-gen powerline standard. The other is G.hn, backed by the International Telecom Union (ITU). P1901 was originally set to be compatible with G.hn, but that plan was rejected [4] late last year. It will form the basis for the next version of HomePlug [5].
G.hn kit is expected later this year.
Netgear's adaptors - some with pass-through power sockets - will be out later this autumn, priced from $159 (£103) per pair. ®
Special Report G.hn-ing for gigabit [6]