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Broadband Over Power Lines in Canada
Patchw0rk F0g writes "From Europe, we jump to la belle province of Quebec for the latest test of broadband internet over power lines (Real Player stream available.) Seems the utility is already utilizing the system to control traffic lights and such, and is exploring the possibilities of offering a cheaper service to consumers to compete with DSL/cable/satellite. Lower prices? I'm all for it... but I live in TORONTO!"
Anyone know if they've done any work on the issues with BPL and interference on the HF bands?
I, for one, do not welcome the interference from BPL in the HF bands.
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
It actually seems to work. I've seen 'demonstrations' before where it couldn't even control traffic lights.
If they're actually doing anything, it's a success, and it just needs scaling up. Even if it's a totally shared bus network, it could have _some_ uses. Just depends on what speed is available and what it's really going to cost to get hooked in.
I'd be a bit worried about the surges, though. Remember that a lightning bolt has already jumped through a mile or three (or more) of air, and blowing through your surge protector to eat your favorite game box isn't much more of a step.
Yes, I know that power systems have exactly the same problem, it's just that they're generally designed to absorb small spikes, and sometimes folks forget the modem is another route for bored electrons.
Best of luck to 'em.
********* sig: If you don't like the law, get filthy stinking rich, and buy a better one.
As a telecom Engineer working as a sys and network admin, this just sounds too out there to be viable. Nortel isn't one to trash a technological standard unless they've really tested it. There's quite a few issues with power spikes, power filters, etc that would seem to make this an unlikely competitor. Plus, the market is already crowded with cable, DSL, satellite, and wireless carriers (Sprint) providing WiFi ISP coverage.
there is a fair wallop more current going through the grid than cable. it would be easier to pick up EM flux - especially from telegraph pole cables.
I like BPL as an interim solution before we get fiber to our houses, but in the end I *want* three cables going into my home - power, data and voice. Note that data and voice are separate. I also like having a landline and a cell phone.
Whenever I hear about multiple utilities becoming reliant on one system of infrastructure I always think of that telco parody which starts with:
"Hello? AT&T? I seem to be having problems with my phone..."
If the power is gone, the communications are gone anyways, so where is the issue?
I was over in the US when the recent blackout occurred. I still had about an hours worth of net access after the blackout occurred thanks to backup power on the network and the battery in my powerbook. So it's not necessarily gone.
It reminds me of a scam run on the US Government in the late 90's. Millions of dollars were granted to a company which had demonstrated such a system. Turns out it was nothing more than a RF modem.
As I recall, the system was immune to scrutiny in order to protect the Intellectual Property of the company.
Also... I remember several people citing the impossibility of broadband over power lines because of the interference caused by transformers on the above ground power lines. In order to enable broadband over power lines, you would have to either find a way to sustain a pure signal through the existing hardware (deemed impossible), or design and add a piece of hardware at every transformer.
I read about this in Wired if anyone cares to go searching for it. The article was entitled Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, printed at some point in 2002, but I was unsuccessful in locating the article in a brief attempt at searching their online archive.
Yes, Sydkraft made a deal with Ilevo [website in english], a swedish technology provider. An yes, since then, nothing has been... Provided.
Broadband Internet through power lines would have been a good candidate here in Sweden which has, well, let's say a less dense population than what is practical for, for example, fiber cables throughout the country. Canada probably have the same exact problems, being the worlds largest country n'all.
However, all attempts seems to have failed miserably and the whole power cable thing is probably dead as a doorknob right now. Maybe there's a pilot running somewhere, but that's about it.
In short: Done that, didn't work.
Well, then perhaps soon we'll see people tapping into power lines instead of wardriving for illegal pr0n.
Seriously though... a power-line is fairly noisy and/or is accessible to the general masses, more so than a phone-line. How does one tag an ID on individual customers (a meter is generally read manually?).
If it were integrated into meters the meter-reader could be out of the job, but could people bypass the meter and pull a little fancy hackery in order to get onto the power co's network? I could see spammers and other illegal users try to take advantage of this...
Didn't Linksys or Netgear (or one of the other SOHO network gear mfrs) have something similar to this for LANs? I remember reading a while back about these units (basically ethernet via the wall sockets) and there seemed to be an issue regarding security. Like your neighbor being able to sniff your traffic. Would someone who knows about this mind explaining a little more? Especially on a grander scale such as is being discussed?
for at least a year now, although until recently it was a beta (and free to PPL customers willing to try it). The dialup support desk at the ISP where I work provides tech support for the service under contract with PPL. FWIW, according to my informal queries of my coworkers in support, BPL does really work pretty well.