Slashdot Mirror


Cincinnati Gets Broadband Over Power Lines

kotj.mf writes "According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati-area electric utility Cinergy has become the first electric utility in the country to offer broadband over power lines. There's also a press release. At $29.95/month for 1 Mb/s both upstream and down, it's only a few bucks more than the local dialup providers. Can we expect the power companies to start giving Cable and DSL providers a run for their money? Finally, my town gets AHEAD of the times, for once."

7 of 609 comments (clear)

  1. What's so special about this? by Fiona+Winger · · Score: 1, Troll

    I don't see anything that great about this change. Am I missing something? Is this like changing to electric powered cars?

  2. Power Outages by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Will this increase the possibility of power outages at all?

  3. Re:And in other news... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 0, Troll

    I believe he mentioned the phrase 'famous for.' Famous. Look it up. :)

  4. Re:And in other news...Riots! by SiO2 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Cincinnati is also famous for racial profiling and riots. Don't forget the riots.

    SiO2

  5. Re:And in other news... by budgenator · · Score: 0, Troll

    Cincinatti is famous for,

    The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (I think)
    The first electric traffic signal and of course the first traffic ticket for dis-obeying an electric trafic signal.

    --
    Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
  6. Re:And in other news...Riots! by SiO2 · · Score: 0, Troll

    -1 Troll?

    Okay. The mods are on crack tonight. "Put down the crack pipe and move away from the mouse." You can choose to ignore reality, young welp, but it will eventually bite you on your posterior.

    So, how is that Dungeons and Dragons thing working out? Have you kissed a girl yet or do you shave your hands on a daily basis? ; )

    I'll accept the mod. This is /.. We all have opions and enforce them when we can with moderator points.

    SiO2

  7. Re:Ham radio == Dinosaur by youknowmewell · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yes, something will replace ham radio if it dies, but that doesn't make it OK to kill ham radio. If humans die, a new dominate speciese will probably appear after a few million years, does that mean we should kill all humans? After all, only a few species want/depend on humans. For many others, humans are "in the way" of their "progress". Same logic, just a rediculous example.

    This is probably the lamest example to defend HAMS that I have ever seen. Stop being so melodramatic. It's not the end of the world if the HAM dies. You'll find a new hobby, I promise.

    Ham radio does more than just FEMA stuff. Hams help with parades, marathons, races, triathalons, storm chasing, teaching electronic and radio theory to new people, providing a new and interesting way to communicate, all sorts of research, etc. Ham radio fosters good will with other countries. You can talk to other countries, meet interesting people, etc. In some remote areas (like in some island chains) ham radio can be a major source of interisland communication.

    Well great, all of those terribly important examples of HAM use really hit hard. But I can do all of that AND MORE with say, cell phones and internet access. "Parades, marathons, races, triathalons, storm chasing, teaching electronic..." All can be done with cells. The only one I have any doubt with is storm chasing as I don't know what sort of interference an electrically charged cloud has on cell phones.

    There are even better and truly new ways to communicate other than with Ham. How about VoIP? Maybe a little instant messaging with video on the side?

    The internet is also a great olive branch to the world. And I'm sure you can find someone from the Christmas Islands to talk to on the internet.

    How would you like it if ATVs were banned from being used and sold because of their environmental impact? Why make the environment suffer for your little hobby. You could still ride bikes, you could switch to that. Quit holding back environmental progress by clining to some pointless hobby that doesn't even serve the community (like ham radio does)?

    As has been pointed out, there are some different motor vehicles that are being banned. Tough luck, right?

    Don't drag down my hobby just because you don't care, please.

    Please don't retard progress for the sake of your hobby, please.

    PS: All of this is ignoring that fact that my ham radio frequencies are protected BY LAW and that the power companys CAN NOT interfer with them. We're not just some group saying "don't kill our hobby", our hobby is legally protected.

    We'll see what legal wrangling will be done with this situation.

    Although you make some valid points, your attempt to sensationalize them only took away from the arguments you posed. The only legs you have to stand on are the laws protecting Ham communication and that "teaching radio theory" argument. All the others are just fluffy filler to make your arguments seem more important.