Data over power lines

An article by IHT on the progress of BPL (Broadband over Power Lines), and new products coming to market. I still wait for the day…

Panasonic started selling its HD-PLC Ethernet adapters for power lines last month. A $200 starter kit provides two units, each about the size of two sticks of butter. One adapter is attached to a router with a short Ethernet cable and plugged into a nearby wall outlet. The second device is plugged into an outlet elsewhere in the house. When a computer is linked to it with an Ethernet cable, data is transmitted through the home’s electrical wiring at speeds of up to 190 megabits a second. Up to seven devices can run on the network.

Netgear, a leading maker of wireless networking gear, will be selling a similar system next month for $250. (Every additional module costs $130.) It moves data at a slightly faster rate.

Marantz says its ZR6001SP receiver will send music to special speakers in another room over power lines. The system, which includes both devices, will sell for about $1,200. Additional speaker units cost $300. The music listener controls the receiver and the players connected to it from a control pad on the speakers

Home Music Streaming

I would love to have a Sonos mesh entertainment system, I just can’t rationalize paying $1,500 to set it up (doesn’t include the actual stereo). It looks like a great system that I would like to get at some point.

So instead went with an Apple AirPort Express (with Air Tunes) network that allows me to easily (pretty much just plugged it into a wall plug) and stream music on my iTunes to my Philips Micro Hi-fi System. So I can move my stereo and the AirPort Express to anywhere in my house near a power plug (and within the wireless network) and I can stream music there.

Wireless Philly Politics

Another interesting nytimes artcle, this time on the politics of the wireless plan for Philadelphia and the relationship with their most famous corporate citizen, Comcast.

Comcast officials have repeatedly disputed her contention that the private sector (read EarthLink) will foot the entire $10 million to $15 million bill to introduce the service and that the project will cost taxpayers nothing.

Comcast is wrong, [Dianah L. Neff, the city's chief information officer and architect of Wireless Philadelphia] maintains. “It’s not like the $30 million subsidy they got to build their corporate headquarters,” she said. “This crying about subsidies is a little disingenuous.”

Thanks to Om for the heads up.

Wireless Setup

Since I seem to be talking to a lot of people regarding setting up a wireless network, I have provided a bit of information here, along with links to buy the necessary equipment.

So here a graphical representation of my home network. I have used D-Link from the start (I have also setup a wired network using the DI-604), but Linksys and Netgear are also good. Product links are included on the bottom if you want to buy anything.

cable modem –>

router extender VoIP –>

wireless laptop card cordless phone

• I use Cable Internet through OptimumOnline/Cablevision with speeds of about 1,500 kbps download & 900 kbps upload. I had SpeakEasy DSL which was a vast improvement over dial-up but never approached the speeds of cable and went down more often. I was shocked when I noticed a similar jump in speed from DSL->Cable as I saw from Dial->DSL. (Search for broadband in your area.) You will need to split your cable line, with one going into your cable box/tv and the other going into your cable modem. After you connect plug in the power and the modem should automatically connect. You should see around 4 solid lights once it’s connected (depending on modem) after about a minute. A randomly blinking light (sometimes yellow instead of green) shows network traffic.
• Using the wireless “g” standard, along with “AirPlus Xtreme” gives me a network speed of 108 Mbps, which is faster then the traditional ‘wired’ network of either 10 or 100 Mbps. Run a network cable from your cable modem (should only have one port) into the ‘WAN’ port of your router. Then just plug in the power cable. By default you should be setup to automatically connect wireless computers/laptops (with DHCP) with no encryption nor password.
• VoIP setup is (relatively) easy, with the router working with no setup out of the box. You may need to “open some ports” if you use VoIP, but that is not all too complicated. (But too much info for this page and depends on your VoIP carrier.) You should plug your VoIP modem into one of the network ports in your router (normally 4) using a network cable. Plug in the power and this also should auto config. There might be a light that blinks while is connects and stays solid once connected. Plug in a phone to the back of the VoIP modem to test for a dial tone. Once it’s working, plug a phone cable from the VoIP modem to one of your house phone plugs (assuming you don’t have phone service), and you can then use any of the phone jacks in the house for your VoIP. You could also keep your phone service (why I don’t know) and use VoIP through a cordless phone basestation setup.
• It is common now to get a router included with the VoIP modem, which is great for security but these are most likely not wireless, so you will still need the setup above. The extra trick is that you will have to make sure the wired router doesn’t do DHCP or they will confict. The default network setup will probably be 192.168.0.1 for your router plugged into your cable modem. You can manually setup your wired router to use the IP 192.168.0.2, gateway of 192.168.0.1 and subnet 255.255.255.0.

Products
1. D-Link Wireless Network Kit, 802.11g, 108Mbps, Includes DI-624 and DWL-G650

2. D-LINK DWL-800AP+ AirPlus Enhanced 2.4GHz Wireless Range Extender
Better range then my actual router, but since the two d-links are incompatible I have two networks setup.

3. D-Link 6DBI DIRECTIONAL INDOOR ANTENNA ( DWL-M60AT )
(not tested, similar to #2)

4. Network Storage for audio & video media files

Vonage VoIP - $25/m for unlimited local and national long distance over your cable internet. I can plug in my phone modem anywhere in the world and use it, and also setup local or international “alternate” phone numbers that will ring my phone. Only downside is it depends on house power/cable internet, but with a cell phone I don’t find this an issue.