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Broadband over Powerlines

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the maybe-i-can-get-bandwidth-now dept.

scubacuda writes "Today's Bottom Line links to an article on Internet-over-powerline technology. St. Louis-based Ameren Corp and other utilities are testing are testing the technology, and, according to the article, "many consider it increasingly viable." Proponents claim the powergrid technology will bolster broadband competition, lower consumer prices and bridge the digital divide in rural areas. Skeptics say that few tests prove its financial and technical viability. Kludge, panacea, or hoax? (I'd think it was a total crock had I not personally known someone working in India with a PCL company)"

5 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. IMHO, if this works, it'll be great... by Slartibartfast · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The "digital divide," right now, largely consists of people who aren't on-line. Let's face it: a dirt-cheap Linux PC can be had for ~$200 at Wal-Mart; it's the $20/mo that keep people from being on-line. ($40/mo for broadband.) That, and the whole problem with rural areas, too. Through the wonders of electrification, we could now also have "digification." This could be a huge boon for those who might otherwise be left behind...

    1. Re:IMHO, if this works, it'll be great... by BadlandZ · · Score: 4, Insightful
      To compare $20/month online service with a $200 PC seems a bit off to me. Why would you pick the cheapest PC, and most expensive dialup?

      There are dial up services for $9.95, some can be found for $5/month. And, believe it or not, there are also free ones (and you thought YOU had problems with popup ads!).

      I don't believe that the $20/month is causing "the digital divide" as you call it. However, I do believe there is a digital divide. I just don't think it's the $20/month causing it.

      I would challenge anyone to find a survey of only people who don't have internet access, who live in the USA, and who aren't homeless (that is, ruling out the people who have bigger problems). I'll bet you find the answers don't reflect that, and I'll bet the answers don't even jive with reality.

      One can claim that $20/month keeps them off the net, but does that same person have a cell phone, or premium cable with HBO and Showtime, or dual phone lines... Or anything else that is billed monthly for a ballpark $20/month that would prove they COULD afford it?

      My guess is the "digital divide" is primarily a mental one. The people on the non-tech side of the digital divide are (IMHO) people who don't know how to use computers in the first place. And, a vast majority of those people will be completely reluctant to admit it, and will claim ANY excuse to avoid admitting that they are not comfortable using a computer in the first place.

      All this smoke about broadband over powerlines will not change that.

  2. One reason it won't fly by TVmisGuided · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Transmission-line Internet is, IMO, a great idea whose time has come.

    But...

    I can't see this happening for quite a while, in the US at least. The Baby Bells and the cable monopolies will tie this up in court for years, all the while jacking up their prices to feed their war chests, and Joe User will sit there and shuck out the bucks, completely oblivious to what's going on. Small dialup providers may turn out to be the big winners of such a battle, at least in the short term.

    The solution: power transmission utilities need to quietly but quickly deploy, especially in the mentioned rural areas (like where I am) that can't get either cable or xDSL provisioned.

    As always, YMMV. This is just my two cents' worth...save up the change for a new monitor or something.

    --
    All the world's an analog stage, and digital circuits play only bit parts.
  3. Old subject, but anyway.. PLC has problems. by tuoppi · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This issue has been already discussed under topic "Ethernet Via Electric Conduits".

    But let's not get too much into that: Powerlines are designed to be transport lines for 50-60Hz AC voltage, and these PLC solutions utilize the bandwidth under 30MHz.

    Because the transport line isn't suitable for as high frequencies PLC solutions are using, losses for the transmitted signal are incredibly high. All this "lost" power that wasn't transmitted to the receiver, has been radiated into environment.

    Thus, power lines act as a huge antenna, which leads into few things:

    your data is not safe, eavesdropping is easy

    HF radio bands get polluted, which not only annoys the radio amateurs, but also the army, ship traffic..

    In Japan, power line communications were rejected, mostly because of the huge amount of interference.
    Companies manufacturing the PLC equipment have tried to push down the amount of interference using spread spectrum techniques, which indeed drops the amount of interference in one spot frequency - but total amount of interference doesn't drop. And as you have huge number of PLC hubs in one area, interference sums up into high static noise level.

    And what really sucks is, that basically PLC is a cable modem solution - user shares his bandwidth with the other users in area.



    This PLC is simply put "a bad idea". Nice goal, but there are also sane ways in achieving it - like different DSL-technologies (or LRE) we already have available.

  4. Re:Leakage by tetra103 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How do posts like this get modded up?

    Honestly, the technology could work quite well, but I think the power companies need to provide a hybrid solution. Run fiber down to the street transformers, then piggy back onto the powerline from there. Unfortunately, this solution still leaves the rual customer out in the snow, but leakage is too hard to fight and using relay devices I see as a nightmare.

    Sure the solution won't benifit or swoon the rual types, but it would provide an alternative for the rest. It's bigger than just TCP/IP. Just like the cable companies can now provice a viable phone service and phone companies can provide internet service, a power company, via powerline technology could provice phone and internet (tv broadcast would be a stretch under the current technology). The speed would be slightly less and many high speed users would balk, but imagine if all computers made started incorporating powerline technology. Now imagine all corded phones having powerline technology. The ease of use and simplification of home wiring would be VERY appealing for the average home user.

    I feel powerline technology SHOULD be the future for ALL residential broadband. Maybe the delivery of signal could differ (fiber, cable, dish, ...), but inside the home just having one universal outlet for power and networking. No longer the need to wire a home for (power, phone, cable, 10baseT, and maybe fiber). Just wire for power and you're all done. Consumer manufacturers would no longer need to create a product with 10 different plugs on the back for interfacing.

    Is this a dream? For years....yes! But the powerline technology is NOT the technology it was 5 years ago. It's very different and if slightly interested, you owe it to yourself to read up on it. I'll admit the technology is fair now at 14Mbps, but that's plenty for residential use. If that gets upped to 100+Mbps, then cable over powerline may be an option.

    The big competition could be moved outside the home. How the content is delivered would be where the competition would be, but at least internal to the home, everything could be standarized.