Broadband through power lines -- any recent news?

[AndrewR]

I remember that Nortel was working on this with promised Mb/sec speeds, but I haven't seen anything lately. I was skeptical about its potential, but perhaps I was wrong. Has anyone heard anything recently about its progress?

Just curious since my new cable (shared T1, allegedly) sucks big goat testicles, and DSL is currently unavailable here at this brand spanking new apartment complex with built-in DSL jacks (makes sense, doesn't it?).

 

[DarkManX]

cant immagine plugging in the same wire that carries power into the computer into a modem to get online :Q

 

[prontospyder]

Looks like Media Fusion in Dallas is the biggest player in Power Line broadband so far. They're promising 2.5 GB/sec transfer speeds for $5 per month (but the equipment costs $300).

Some links:

http://www.mediafusionllc.net/northamerica/main/home.html
http://www.forbes.com/tool/html/00/Mar/0327/mu4.htm
http://www.zonedin.com/mediafusion.zml

I sure hope they deliver on their promises!

 

[Mday]

yeah, with respect to the US, they are doing testing in texas.

darkmanx, i have the same feeling... but then, data signals are just lower voltages...

anyway... they have been through this before... the original planning (which began in europe) had things badly thought out, the street lights were blinking due to the data streams... lol... probably fixed that problem by now.

this idea is NOT new... it's been around longer than you think. implementation is always a bitch.

 

[Moonbeam]

The big drawback with this is that you can't get online when the power fails.

 

[Mday]

lol Moonbeam... not even with a UPS?

 

[prontospyder]

<< The big drawback with this is that you can't get online when the power fails. >>



Even if you have DSL or cable, you wouldn't get online also since the computer won't power on.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Can't you get a surge protector with a battery or something?

 

[slipperyslope]

&quot;new apartment complex with built-in DSL jacks &quot;

DSL uses standard phone jacks so I hope it would have phone jacks in the apartment.

Jim

 

[Viper Frag]

2.5 GB/sec, for $5 a month? You can count me in.
I wonder if it will be unlimited net access.

 

[nickdakick]

I've read a review about a ready-to-market solution by an Munich, Germany based company. They had it tested in different environments and the article basically said that it was reliable and fast for both business(here: printing plant near to the machines) and home use. Can't wait to buy one of these babies, I'm on ISDN and that's the fastest I can get in my area.

 

[AndrewR]

slipperyslope: There are both phone jacks in standard plates and cable/DSL jacks on separate plates (the jacks on those are NOT connected to the phone line -- I mistakenly plugged a phone into one ).

 

[Moonbeam]

Mday, If you UPS is Hoover dam. , and thanks for getting the joke.

 

[piku]

Didn't they test this in England and it ended up turning on and off all the street lights and signals and a bunch of other stuff?

 

[Mday]

of course i get the joke... it's old... but it's still a zinger...

and yeah, i have heard it involving broadband through power lines.

--

piku, didn't i write that earlier ???

 

[Haircut]

Piku - they did test it in England a few years back, one of my friends had a trial of it, it was pretty quick: 16megs download in about 10 secs. I don't remember of any problems with street lights or anything, but there must have been some problems as I have not heard anything about it since

 

[piku]

Sorry bout that Mday, chalk that up as a 535 Error: piku did not thouroughly read the thread.