5-Nov-2007 Head unplugged According to Windows, Solwise's network adaptors talk to each other a lot slower than their 802.11n rivals. Shows what Windows knows.
While the claimed connection speed may not be all that high, in real terms using HomePlug AV beats WiFi hands down.
The concept of using household mains wiring for networking has been around for a while.
By correctly modulating the frequency of a standard ethernet signal, you can use the 240V mains ring in your home to transfer data without interference from all that pesky electricity - it's a bit like the technology that allows one cable to carry both voice calls and DSL information out of your home to the internet and local telephone exchange.
The first iteration of powerline networking was a bit flaky, mind: never reaching the quoted speeds of 80Mbps and struggling to hold a clear and consistent signal long enough to do much with it.
Kit based on the newer HomePlug 2.0 (also known as HomePlug AV) guidelines, however, rocks. Not only is the maximum throughput theoretically 200Mbps, but HomePlug AV also overcomes a lot of the interference from the electricity passing through the same cables, creating a certain amount of 'Quality of Service'.
As the 'AV' suffix suggests, it's been developed specifically for 'digital home' usage, offering the low latency and high bandwidth required for an HDTV signal.
Setup is simple. Plug the adaptor into a wall socket, connect it to your PC via an Ethernet cable, then plug another adaptor into the wall near your modem/router and connect it to that.
The result? A signal almost as clear as plain old ethernet.
My Counter-Strike scores were afflicted by a small amount of choke, but look at how efficiently files can be transferred over powerlines, and how low pings drop compared to WiFi.
So why isn't HomePlug our favoured weapon of choice? Simply because of its lack of flexibility. If you have one gaming PC that's in a different room to your router, and you're never going to need to add other machines to the network elsewhere in the house, then two Homeplug 2.0 adaptors is, without doubt, the way you should link up your home.
But when you start adding three or four machines, or consider wandering around with a laptop, costs multiply exponentially. You either need two routers, one for each plug, or one plug for every PC in your house.
At £50 a pop that could soon mount up... That said, it's worth re-iterating that HomePlug AV beats WiFi hands down. It's potentially perfect for most, but not ideal for some.
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