Network Through Your Electric Outlets

Home networking can be a pain. Wireless is wonderful when it works. Hardwired networks always work faster but sometimes getting from point A to point B involves running wires through the shower or up the chimney. Face it, most of our homes were not built for ease of wiring post construction. I have had mixed results with wireless, my present Linksys wireless router works well with my Trendnet USB wireless NIC and my built in wireless in my PDA and my laptop. I get less than stellar results at my son’s home with the same equipment. Woe is me, what to do, what to do?

Networking through the electrical outlets is finally coming of age. Not only does it work, it works well. It wasn’t that long ago that we first tested this technology, back when I still owned a computer business. It was so so. Now with the advances here and those coming soon we are looking at 200 Mbps throughput now and 400 Mbps throughput in the next year. Very respectable, quicker than wireless and theoretically with frequency hopping nearly standard, hair dryers and other disruptive appliances shouldn’t be a factor. These speeds are suitable for normal networking and even streaming video. DS2, a Spanish company appears to be the leader in the field. Netgear products in the US feature the use of DS2 technology. Best of all the current technology supposedly won’t be obsolesced by the 400 Mbps equipment due out in 2009, ‘cause the new tech is supposed to be backward compatible.

So if you have a wireless network unfriendly environment and hate the though of Cat5e cable running through your shower, this may be the tech for you.

Here is a link to Netgear’s site and their tech. Take note Netgear I am open to receiving donations, compliments or whatever for pointing people in your direction. To my loyal reader or possibly readers, I am not being paid to write this blog but I would like to be, but then there are so many things I wish for, like $1.99/gallon gas that just aren’t going to happen.

Netgear link: http://www.netgear.com/Products/PowerlineNetworking/PowerlineEthernetAdapters/HDXB111.aspx