Until it gets archived by Yahoo and Reuters, here’s a link.
How does this work? I think maybe I can understand how information could be transmitted over a power cable (?use the underlying power transmission as a type of carrier wave?), but how do you direct transmissions to their intended recipients?
Is this technology for real?
If this technology IS possible I wonder how long before it catches on here in America? I like the speeds suggested – two million bytes per second sounds promising. I’m awfully sick of how much cable companies charge per month for high-speed internet access, not to mention installation.
But the notion of charging access for a specified amount of data really sucks, tho. 250 Megabytes per month?? If I’m swapping MP3s, I can exceeded 250 Megabytes in an HOUR.
I heard the water utilities are planning the same thing 
Aw, man. Don’t tell me this is a hoax…?
It’s not a hoax, internet connection over power lines is indeed in the testing stages now.
There are already home powerline networking kits, but those essentially just make your house into a big hub. No routing or switching. I don’t know how the routing is accomplished in the broadband scheme.
The theoretical performance is quite good, but I have my doubts that we’ll see anything close to fulfilling its potential.
And paying by amount transferred is definitely NOT the way to go for broadband.
Nope…it’s not a hoax. The ability to transmit data via power line has been known for a long time (well…several years which is a long time in computerland). This is the first I’ve heard of a potentially marketed solution though.
This is done pretty much the same way ot os done today. If you have networked computers at work look at where the network cable plugs into your computer. You should see a blinking light (depending on your network card but most do this). Everythime that light blinks it means your computer is seeing data being transmitted over the network. In short, evertime your computer sends data it travels to every other computer on your network (like filling a hose with multiple branches up with water…all pipes get filled). Every computer looks at the data packet and determines if it is meant for it. If not it ignores it. Only the computer it is meant for responds.
That’s the quick and dirty of it since it can get much more complicated with subnets and switches and such. If you are thinking, “Gee…that means everyone can see what is leaving my house” then you are partly correct. Someone can hook a computer called a Sniffer to a network and monitor all traffic and potentially grab passwords and the lik. That’s one of the resons to use cryptography programs if your data is sensitive (or at the very least SSL [Secure Socket Layer] which is most often used for credit card transactions online).
I remember reading about this a few years ago, I think Nortel was working on it. Then, I heard it was abandoned because other technologies seemed more promising for higher bandwidth. Interesting that Germany is picking up on it now.
Using this exchange rate program I was able to calculate that the 49 - 249 DEM they want to charge for internet access is the equivalent of about $21 - $108 USD per month. If this proposed system really delivers speeds of up to 3 times faster than current broadband, I’m sure that price would be worth it to someone.
My ONLY reservation thus far is how much data can I receive for my access? Because so far, the pricing indicates cost per unit of information… which would eventually inhibit how much time people would be willing to spend online, knowing that the longer they do, the more money they’d have to pay.
I don’t think the price per amount downloaded is inherent in the technology; I think it just reflects Deutsche Telekom’s general pricing structure. I believe they charge that way for all their Internet services over there, not just for powerline access. If American broadband providers picked up the new technology, they would presumably charge for it the same way they charge for DSL or cable modem access now.
Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in the following company.
Cisco recently made the WSJ et al by funding a company to do exactly this in the USA. The company is called Amperion, and from their website it seems that the technology is at least somewhat in place.
I think it will have the same flaws as cable modems. As more and more users fight for the same bandwidth the throughput will get lower and lower and lower.
Also, the power lines are not designed for high frequency operation. They will have to use lots of adaptive equalization to watch out for dropouts and other signal blockages. Conditions (throughput) could change day by day or even seasonally.
Yes, it suffers from the same limitations as cable modems.
And, due to the transmission line properties of the electric power lines, it can’t sustain the same bandwith that cable and DSL can theoretically achieve.
And another thing no one is considering is that as our electric power distribution system becomes privatized and less regulated, there are electric power information services that may require this bandwidth. Instead of a dumb AH meter on the consumer end, you could have a smart terminal that keeps track of the instantaneous cost of power, switches loads, manages locally generated power, etc., and talks to the utility company over the power lines.
I think the utility companies would be better off leasing their rights of way for last mile optical fibers.
This is technology is indeed real and available to end consumers. The company I work for is a leader in the development of systems that offer data communications over power lines.
In fact HP/RCA are currently retailing a “SystemLink” device for use with a PC. The device connects directly from your PC to the closest power socket and provides a 2Mb transfer rates. I’ve used the product and it works great for networking my two computers at home and through it I can share the Internet connection of my main computer.
Am I right in thinking that the underlying electrical power transmission acts as sort of a “carrier wave”? If not, how is the information encoded?
Thanks