Move over FiOS, there's a new guy in town

[aplefka]

Text

HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Three Japanese consumer electronics giants have created a new technology to transport Internet and media signals around the home via the electricity network, Panasonic said on Thursday. Sony (6758.T), Mitsubishi (6503.T) and Matsushita-owned (6752.T) Panasonic have set up the SECA powerline alliance.



They have developed a system to transfer 170 Megabits per second of data through the power lines of a home, Panasonic researcher Ingo Chmielewski told journalists at the electronics trade fair CeBIT.

He said the technology is already available and introduction depended on government authorization.

The speed is three times faster than wireless technology Wi-Fi and is fast enough for high definition television signals. Unlike wireless alternatives, the powerline technology performance is stable throughout the home. SECA will compete with existing technology from the HomePlug alliance of 50 companies, including Japanese group Sharp (6753.T). The two systems are not compatible.

HomePlug's current standard is only 14 Mbps but it is thought to be working on a faster version.

Sony is also a member of HomePlug, according to the consortium's Web Site and it was unclear if it would be part of both. Sony was not available to comment.

Asked why the three companies came up with their own technology and risked yet another format war in the consumer electronics world, Chmielewski said: "We think our technology is better."

 

[loup garou]

Powerline will never be big in the US.

 

[sharkeeper]

Won't work where there are no power lines either.

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: werk
Powerline will never be big in the US.

Why do you say that?

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: sharkeeper
Won't work where there are no power lines either.

That's nothing new. Cable isn't available in all areas, nor is DSL, nor is even dialup.

 

[Rogue]

Originally posted by: werk
Powerline will never be big in the US.

Why? Not easy enough to control so that the vendor can wring every last cent out of the customer and abuse them?

 

[SKORPI0]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.qrpis.org/~k3ng/bpl.html">Frequently Asked Questions About Broadband Over Powerline (BPL / PLT)
</a>

 

[So]

There are issues with the powerlines becoming antennas that they are not mentioning, plus there are all sorts of filtering issues. Realisticlly, this would take as much of an investment as simply running fiber to hubs and throwing up WAPs. It won't happen because it is not really a great option.

 

[arod]

I doubt the powerline companies would give as much bw as fios does.... still praying to the fios gods its avaliable by the end of the year here like weve been told.

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: SKORPI0
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.qrpis.org/~k3ng/bpl.html">Frequently Asked Questions About Broadband Over Powerline (BPL / PLT)
</a>

:thumbsup:

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: arod
I doubt the powerline companies would give as much bw as fios does.... still praying to the fios gods its avaliable by the end of the year here like weve been told.

FiOS has actually CUT the bandwidth since its inception a few years ago. I remember discussing it with either ActuaryTm or Nik in ventrilo several weeks ago.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: werk
Powerline will never be big in the US.

Why do you say that?

Too much interference generated by the radio waves across the lines. This new technology could fix the problem, but they've hit snags every step of the way.

 

[ZOXXO]

Am I reading this wrong? It looks to me like home networking through electrical wiring, not long distance service provider technology.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: ZOXXO
Am I reading this wrong? It looks to me like home networking through electrical wiring, not long distance service provider technology.

hehe...the prize goes to you for being the only one in the thread to read the article (including the OP and myslef). 😱

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: werk
Powerline will never be big in the US.

Why do you say that?

Too much interference generated by the radio waves across the lines. This new technology could fix the problem, but they've hit snags every step of the way.

I wonder how they got it to work in the article then. Are there any diagrams online to show how it's actually constructed (the line)?

 

[arod]

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: arod
I doubt the powerline companies would give as much bw as fios does.... still praying to the fios gods its avaliable by the end of the year here like weve been told.

FiOS has actually CUT the bandwidth since its inception a few years ago. I remember discussing it with either ActuaryTm or Nik in ventrilo several weeks ago.

15 mbit/2 mbit for $49.99 is crazy good..... And people I know that live in a fios provided area tell me you get every bit of that speed.

 

[mjrand]

Originally posted by: sharkeeper
Won't work where there are no power lines either.

The actual computers they'd want to use this connection with will run where there are no power lines though, right? 😉

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: mjrand

Originally posted by: sharkeeper
Won't work where there are no power lines either.

The actual computers they'd want to use this connection with will run where there are no power lines though, right? 😉

Yes.

 

[sharkeeper]

The actual computers they'd want to use this connection with will run where there are no power lines though, right?

This cannot work when your power system is not connected to the power grid.