The ultimate in plug-and-play

New powerline switches make it remarkably easy to create or extend a network over AC mains wiring

3 Aug 2006

Alan Stevens, IT Week, 03 Aug 2006

I get to look at a lot of networking products in my job and although nearly all claim to be easy to use, few actually are, even those aimed at teleworkers and branch offices. But I was sent a product recently that really did work straight out of the box and which made me rethink my attitude to a networking technology that, until that point, I had studiously tried to avoid.

The technology in question is powerline networking, also referred to as HomePlug, where data signals are carried over the AC mains wiring rather than a dedicated UTP network. And the reason I've always avoided it? The innumerable iterations of such systems in the past, all of which have turned out to be slow, unreliable and a general waste of cash.

This latest implementation, however, looks likely to be a lot more successful.

» Full Story: www.itweek.co.uk

Filed: Aug 2006, Comment, Powerline Networking, Co: HomePlug, NETGEAR, Tech: HomePlug 1.0