Powerline networking: what you need to know
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 1:14 pmNetworking over power cabling is easier than you think
Most people have a wireless network in their home these days. So you might think that Powerline networking (aka HomePlug), which uses your home's electrical wiring as a wired data network, is an outdated and redundant technology.
But you'd be wrong.
Yes, Wi-Fi is convenient and fast
However, there's a simplicity and reliability that Powerline offers that wireless technology still can't match. It's not designed to replace a Wi-Fi network. It's supposed to complement one.
What is Powerline networking?
A Powerline network is essentially a wired network with (mostly) hidden wires. Let's say that you have your broadband router in the hallway and a game pc in the living room.
The Powerline solution is less visible − a 'no new wires' approach. You buy a basic kit, which comes with two Powerline adapters and two short Ethernet cables. You connect one of the Ethernet cables to your router and to the first of the adapters. Then you plug it into the nearest power socket. You click the second Ethernet cable into the pc and into the second adapter. You plug the second adapter into the nearest power socket.
And that's it. The adapters auto-detect each other (no drivers, no lengthy configuration process) and auto-connect, enabling data packets to whizz from router to pc, travelling along the Ethernet cable, into the first adapter, across the electrical wiring in the walls, out into the second adapter and into the pc.
How does Powerline networking work?
Sending signals across a home's electrical wiring isn't a 21st century idea. In fact, the power companies have been sending control signals over the mains since the 1920s − it's how electricity meters know when to switch to an off-peak rate. The electrical wiring in the average home can support a variety of frequencies. As electricity uses 50/60Hz signals, extra data can be transported along the same wiring at much higher frequencies, without causing any interference.
Most recently, January 2012 saw the release of a newer, faster version of the HomePlug Powerline standard. Enter the HD and 3D video-friendly HomePlug AV2, which incorporates MIMO technology to send data over the fastest two wires in a typical three-wire (live, neutral and ground) home electrical system.
Most people have a wireless network in their home these days. So you might think that Powerline networking (aka HomePlug), which uses your home's electrical wiring as a wired data network, is an outdated and redundant technology.
But you'd be wrong.
Yes, Wi-Fi is convenient and fast
However, there's a simplicity and reliability that Powerline offers that wireless technology still can't match. It's not designed to replace a Wi-Fi network. It's supposed to complement one.
What is Powerline networking?
A Powerline network is essentially a wired network with (mostly) hidden wires. Let's say that you have your broadband router in the hallway and a game pc in the living room.
The Powerline solution is less visible − a 'no new wires' approach. You buy a basic kit, which comes with two Powerline adapters and two short Ethernet cables. You connect one of the Ethernet cables to your router and to the first of the adapters. Then you plug it into the nearest power socket. You click the second Ethernet cable into the pc and into the second adapter. You plug the second adapter into the nearest power socket.
And that's it. The adapters auto-detect each other (no drivers, no lengthy configuration process) and auto-connect, enabling data packets to whizz from router to pc, travelling along the Ethernet cable, into the first adapter, across the electrical wiring in the walls, out into the second adapter and into the pc.
How does Powerline networking work?
Sending signals across a home's electrical wiring isn't a 21st century idea. In fact, the power companies have been sending control signals over the mains since the 1920s − it's how electricity meters know when to switch to an off-peak rate. The electrical wiring in the average home can support a variety of frequencies. As electricity uses 50/60Hz signals, extra data can be transported along the same wiring at much higher frequencies, without causing any interference.
Most recently, January 2012 saw the release of a newer, faster version of the HomePlug Powerline standard. Enter the HD and 3D video-friendly HomePlug AV2, which incorporates MIMO technology to send data over the fastest two wires in a typical three-wire (live, neutral and ground) home electrical system.
