Powerline Ethernet group posts 1Gb/s spec
HomePlug AV2 ready for adopters' adapters
CES 2012
Powerline Ethernet promoter the HomePlug Alliance has published its latest technology update, offering a peak data transfer speed of 1Gb/s.
That's the maximum physical data speed. Error handling and other network protocols will reduce the effective data rate to 500Mb/s. The electrical environment in which the technology is used - your home's wiring, in other words - will reduce it further.
HomePlug AV2, as the new spec is called, is interoperable with HomePlug's existing 200-500Mb/s HomePlug AV tech, and emerging 1901-based products, such as Netgear's latest powerline adapters, which also operate at up to 500Mb/s and are compatible with HomePlug AV.
AV2 takes in support for multiple input and multiple output, allowing more data to be transmitted and received simultaneously. The spec also calls for adaptors to incorporate repeater functionality to increase the powerline Lan's range.
With the AV2 spec published, it's now up to makers of HomePlug-compatible kit to incorporate the technology in new adapters. They are not likely to hit the shops until toward the end of the year. ®
COMMENTS
I bet the Radio Hams cant wait
For the shiny beacon of PE to further intrude in their hobby.
Oh no
Regular readers of my rants and anyone that knows anything about Communications engineers knows what I'm writing next.
Oh what is the point?
Why are the National regulators now only interested in Revenue and not in managing Spectrum and protecting Licensed Users?
I don't mean "Hams". Well not just hams. Aeronautical, AM Broadcast, Marine, Mobile are all licensed users and by international agreement entitled to protection.
People using the mains are only entitled to use it for power. Nothing else.
Have they fixed
the horrible RF interference it produces, or is it still just a toy for the antisocial who can't be bothered wiring a proper network?
Buh-bye Wi-Fi
Seemingly every device I buy these days has an ethernet connection, so this is welcome news, because not all those devices support Wi-Fi, and those that do often have extremely flaky Wi-Fi hardware and/or drivers.
For example, my Panasonic Viera TV has ethernet but not Wi-Fi, and the "forthcoming Wi-Fi adaptor" never materialised for over a year after I bought the telly. When it did finally appear it cost nearly a 100 squid. What a rip-off.
As another example, the Wi-Fi hardware in my Samsung N-150 netbook is an extremely poor implementation that tends to "fall asleep" then refuse to wake up until I reboot. And the Wi-Fi in my (admittedly old) Acer Ferrari 4000 laptop seems to have a range of about 2 inches.
Even my Netgear DGN2000 router is crap at Wi-Fi. If try connecting with a mixture of "N" and "G" devices it craps out, and I lose all connectivity, so I have to force all my "N" devices back to "G" mode.
I get the impression that Wi-Fi is one of those technologies that nobody can get right, like "packet writing" CDs.
I'll be first in line to get these gigabit Powerline beauties.
50% overhead in protocol and error handling?!
-1 for El Reg missing the "Adept adopter's adapters"
