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Smart Grid Brings Powerline Broadband Back?
judgecorp writes "The UK is giving powerline broadband a serious trial once again, in up to 1000 homes in Liverpool. The technology was once hailed as an alternative to ADSL, delivered over the electricity mains, but lost out because of radio interference and price. The UK government is backing the installation of smart meters across the country, and it seems a new generation of 200Mbps powerline broadband could ride on that, cutting the installation costs. What about the interference issues? A recent FAQ from the regulator, Ofcom, says it has not found any evidence of a breach of EMC rules, but is keeping an eye on it."
All this summary needs is "Posted from my iPhone"...
www.eFax.com are spammers
They cost a fortune to install & maintain, much more than any reduced electrical consumption.
The real scam of it, is the purpose is to create a confuseopoly in the billing department.
Rather than $X per month for a meter, and $Y/KWH, the want all the customer friendly transparency of a cell phone contract.
"OH I'm sorry sir, your monthly contract is $200 for 2000 prime KWH and every KWH over that is charged at a very reasonable $50/KWH. I'm sorry your bill is $2000 this month. Would you like to sign a new 5 year contract for more KWH, perhaps $400 for 4100 KWH?"
"I'm in a friends and family electrical contract, so only one of us can run our air conditioner at any instant, or else they bill all of us triple rates"
"Why am I running my space heater on the patio? Well, I've got a 1000 KHW contract, its the end of the month and I've only used 950 KWH, so I figured no sense wasting my money"
F those money grubing scum.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Its not a cure, but its a start.
I'm not sure how the UK is, but here in the US:
Comcast has an interest in blocking Netflix so they can sell me cable and Vonage so they can sell me phone service.
ATT has an interest in blocking Netflix so they can sell me cable (UVerse) Vonage so they can sell me phone service.
Eon has an interest in blocking ????? so they can sell me electricity.
Power companies main advantage is that they're another wire to the home, they have the infrastructure already. They'll have to overcome some hurdles since their current network engineers are in a classic internal support role, that is they have computer networks to support their main power delivery operations rather than supporting routing bits and bytes to the actual customers. The advantage to the consumer is that the power company is used to providing a (metered) pipe and thats about it. They have no other competitive issues because you can't power your house with an internet connection.
I know thats different in other places, but I never saw a power meter OUTSIDE a house over here and no firefighter is pissed of about that fact.
Power cables run directly from the main branch below the street into the basements along with water, phone and cable tv.
This never has been an issue with the firefighters I know of.
Oh they're probably pissed, but even if they change the building code its not going to fix itself instantly so, don't worry be happy.
The logic is, if the house is on fire and you intend to fill it with water and firemen, by far the fastest and safest way to pull electrical power to the site is to pull the meter. Every other option, like giant fiberglass bolt cutters, calling a lineman, etc, is slower, more expensive, less safe...
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Groups like the American Radio Relay League have fought against this for a long time, as well as recently, too. There's talk of notching the BPL, and is done some places, but not everywhere. Since the feds took over the developing ownership rights of the spectrum with the FCC, it's their responsibility to ensure BPL providers aren't interfering with licensed spectrum users.
The advantage to the consumer is that the power company is used to providing a (metered) pipe and thats about it. They have no other competitive issues because you can't power your house with an internet connection.
Today, sure. Back in 1984 when I got my first modem AT&T had no residential video service to compete with me.
It only takes a few months for, say, General Electric/NBC to buy my local power company, and then guess what happens to my netflix access?
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
We have the meters inside, but a box with a fuse per household outside. You can cut the power to any floor by taking the fuse out.
Dilbert RSS feed
I know. I know. Don't feed the trolls. But...
In some areas, at least in the USA, the infrastructure is not thoroughly built out. We live in a rural area. Recently the EMTs tried to call for a Life Flight for the victim of a serious auto accident. Turns out that the telephone company had taken down the long distance phone link for scheduled maintenance. Cell phones were of no use because the cell tower sends the signal via copper out of the area for switching, then back into the area for connection to the dialed party. Without a switched local copper phone line, the cell system was useless.
If it were not for the ability of the emergency dispatcher to contact the state EOC via RADIO (yes that old fashion technology) the accident victim would most likely have died.
So, yes, radio technology is "old school". But it is an important means of communications, especially in the case of emergencies. That's why the ARRL motto is "When all else fails".