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Internet via the Power Grid, Again

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the plug-in-drop-out dept.

Damon Campagna writes "This NYT article, Internet via the Power Grid: New Interest in Obvious Idea says the FCC is looking into power-line networking again. I thought this was pretty much debunked a couple years ago?"

6 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. Power Grid by Zephy · · Score: 5, Informative

    The FCC Might have debunked it, but it seems to work over here. Some companies have started large scale trials. 2000kbps might not be a lot over there but it's still faster than the 512k/1024k that's the norm over here.

  2. It works by GiMP · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is not only in trial in many places, but in full-scale production.

    Poland, for example, has been rolling out power-line internet for at least a year.

    1. Re:It works by Bastian · · Score: 3, Informative

      I don't think whoever wrote the blurb for the story RTFA on it being debunked last time.

      What was debunked is the idea that if you burn lots of money, break a few laws of physics, engineer electronic devices that can modulate information transmissions at rates orders of magnitude faster than the best we've got right now (but will cost under $60 apiece), and break a few more laws of physics, you can transmit data over the power grid in the exobit range. (That's thousands of gigabits.)

      Other companies that aren't scams have had much more modest success. The idea works, the problem is finding a way to make it financially workable, too.

  3. no registration by HeyBob! · · Score: 4, Informative

    trick learned from a previous post:
    replace www with archive to avoid the registration
    link

  4. Voice over IP over power lines by Johku · · Score: 3, Informative

    Couple of weeks ago I saw a short data-over-power-grid demonstration in Finnish television. They demonstrated how you could connect an IP telephone to power outlet and make a phone call through power grid. I think their idea was that it is easier for them to provide functionality similar to the telephone network than vice versa (when talking about last mile solutions).

    The topic has been quite frequently up in Finnish media because Turku Energia (home page in Finnish) has been selling their new data-ower-power-grid product to consumers since January.

  5. Scottish Hydro by cruachan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Are running a series of trials, one in Crieff - a small town about 20 miles from where I sit. Given British Telecom's ridiculous criteria for only installing ADSL where there is 'sufficient demand'* there's been a great deal of interest in the Scottish Highlands and Borders for alternative suppliers. Scottish Enterprise have some info at http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/sedotcom_home/s ervices-to-business/broadband/broadband-news_event s/broadband-projects/broadband-power_line_trial.ht m

    *British Telecom regularly seem to leave something to be desired when it comes to 'public service'. A friend of mine has this story about how he recently installed an ADSL modem for a business in the centre of Glasgow - a city of nearly two million people. Naturally he assumed that ADSL would be available so neglected to explicitly check, and he was consequently scunnered when BT told him that it wasn't available due to 'insufficient demand'. Apparently the local exchange serviced quite a small area, and one where there was a disproportionate number of warehouses and areas under redevelopment, so despite being right in the middle of the city it had not met BT's criteria. Fortunatly given where they were the embaressment factor was sufficiently high that BT upgraded the exchange anyway, but it just demonstrates what we're up against.