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Posted by Denis Jedig on December 20, 2006, 3:08 am
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On 19 Dec 2006 18:01:05 -0500 Al Dykes wrote:
> Does anyone have any experience with this stuff and is the expensive
> brand worth the money?
It's not really Ethernet - the devices you see are Ethernet-to-Powerline
bridges. I believe, the Powerline protocol is a HomePlug standard, some
designs are proprietary. Nevertheless, at least here (Europe) there is
hardly any interoperability amongst the devices. The best interoperability
you can get is different devices not disturbing each others communications
too much.
As for the question if it's worth it - you'll see that the devices do
differ in specifications - mostly the advertized data throughput varying
from 14 Mbps (the early generation of the protocols) up to 200 Mbps (the
current edge). The advertized data rates need to be corrected by protocol
overhead and typical media properties (pretty much like WLANs) to get a
number you might measure in non-laboratory environments. According to tests
conducted here[1] the newer devices typically have a better range than
the older ones. All of them get into problems when operated on an
extension lead or in immediate adjacency of other electric devices with
a switching power supply (like computers).
[1] "here" is Germany
--
Denis Jedig
syneticon networks GbR http://syneticon.net/service/
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