Home PNA NICs in Linux box.... how?

[jonnyGURU]

Due to the lack of ambition I have to drop cable in my 40 year old house with virtually no attic and no basement, I was considering Home PNA.

Home PNA is networking a house via installed phone wire, which in my house, every room has.

None of the Home PNA NICs I have seen claim to have Linux drivers. Has anyone sucessfully networked using Home PNA in Linux???

TIA!
jon

 

[Soybomb]

Yikes I wish I could say I was more familiar with that for you! Maybe check into wireless bluetooth gear if you dont mind the cost...

 

[Workin']

Haven't seen or heard of any success using PNA w/linux. Which sucks.

Did you look into any of the new 802.11b wireless setups? I think most of those will work with linux, although it is somewhat (quite a bit?) more expensive than PNA, but maybe less expensive than paying someone to run Cat5 or tearing up the walls yourself.

 

[CTho9305]

Well, the HPNA2.0 standard (10mbit) cards (based on the "iline10", or BCM4210) are 100% non-functional under linux, and all the companies saying they're not planning on writing drivers. For some 1mbit cards (like Intel's AnyPoint), tulip.o is supposed to offer support (search google about it). I'm pretty much in your predicament (dont want to pull CAT5, and the computers are far apart, but since our primary OS is 98SE, the HPNA 10mbit is fine. I'm stuck with no networking when I boot to linux though

 

[jonnyGURU]

Workin: Wireless is just so damn expensive.

I could use TWO of the bridges. One on each side of the house and this will turn the RJ11 back to a RJ45 connection, and then I could use a standard NIC.

Sounds like this or running actual CAT5 are my only solutions. At least two of the bridges STILL costs less than a wireless kit. 🙁

 

[Workin']

<< At least two of the bridges STILL costs less than a wireless kit. >>

But probably not THAT much less, I guess it depends on how many machines will need wireless NIC's. But if only 1 computer would use the wireless connection, then I think you can get a new Linksys WAP+router for about US$250 and PCI NIC for about US$100 or PCMCIA for about $130, which is right about where 2 bridges would put you, plus the PNA hardware. And wireless would be so much cooler. I'm thinking about going (partially) wireless so I can use my laptop anywhere in the house, plus I'm in the same boat as you, old house = wiring pain, and there are a few rooms where I'd like to add access.

Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[MGMorden]

I've got a set of the Diamond Phone line cards (version 1.0 though). It's based on the AMD PCNet Home chipset and works in Linux definately if you use the standard ethernet networking (it'll do standard ethernet at 10mbps or phoneline at 1.5mbps), but I've yet to try the phone line networking (I picked up the cards to use over the summer when I go home. me and my brother have to share net access when I'm there so I need an easy way to network the machines). On a happy note though the set of two cards isn't but $10 from computergeeks.com, so it couldn't hurt to try it out.