the Internet through electrical sockets?

[4dsc]

http://equipped.msn.com/article.aspx?aid=4

Will it work?? I hope so..

The new option: connecting to the Internet through electrical sockets. In this scenario, the home user plugs a specialized modem into the wall socket and is immediately brought online at speeds up to 3 megabits per second, as fast as any broadband service on the market today. Known as " broadband over power lines, " or BPL, the service is currently available to 16,000 homes in Cincinnati.

[Misunderestimator]

1. Makes sense....

A few years ago I had a network at home that was linked through electrical sockets. Had one computer as the base and the others linked through the sockets.

[benburch]

2. A very bad bad bad idea

If this is deployed, shortwave radio in the USA will be unusable! We will also lose the use of Ham and CB radios, and there will be significant interference with cellphones, police and fire communications, and AM broadcast radio.

This is about the stupidest idea to come down the pike in a long time.

[mkultra]

6. only certain frequencies

Only certain frequencies of this implementation interfere with the radio bands. The FCC is testing all types to weed out the bad ones. This is good because it brings connectivity to those in the rural areas. More information will always be good for Americans.

[gbwarming]

7. Rural areas will likely be left out ... Why?

Because the high frequency signals won't go through regular 60Hz transformers. There will have to be couplers to cross these gaps and ampilfiers to boost the signal periodically.

_Every_ transformer has to be bridged! That will be so expensive that rural areas will NEVER be covered.

[Kellanved]

3. not really

They tried it in Germany, and aside from being too expensive, it was too unreliable.

The developers saw little chance of improving the quality ("polluted" power grids: appliances disturb the original signal) and stopped the service. The other problem is similar to cable: with many subscribers the bandwidth drops.

So: it might be a good idea for a LAN (under certain circumstances), but IMHO it is no good for broadband internet.

[gbwarming]

4. Big threat to Shortwave communication, and not likely in rural areas

It will wipe out high frequency communications used for shortwave broadcasts, emergency and amateur radio, and since it requires special equipment to be installed in the transmission lines it is not likely to be extended into rural areas with low 'conusmer' density.


http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/

[BigMcLargehuge]

5. Nortel field tested this in the UK about five years ago

it works in concept, power is carried after all, over copper. All that's needed is a way to put a modulated signal on it.