[TriLUG] Powerline - Ethernet over AC lines & Linux

[Ron Joffe]

On Friday 21 September 2007 21:39, Neil L. Little wrote:
> Of course there is
> more to the story but basically  BPL is a bad idea.

Sorry to be the dissenting view here, but it's not as much that BPL is a bad 
idea, but that there have been some bad implementations. If you were a rural 
farmer and wanted something faster then dial up, in many parts of the country 
you don't have much choice. If your local electric utility comes and offers 
you a choice, at what cost would you take it? 

Powerline carrier in itself works quite well, Many utility have (or are in the 
process of) implementing powerline carriers to read their electric meters. 
That's a situation where the technology is there, it does not interfere, and 
provides a very good solution. The situation comes when you try to increase 
the bandwidth to the point where the electric lines start radiating a 
significant amount, then you get nice radio spectrum interference. 

The power levels are a direct result of cost to benefit ratios. Some system 
utilize rather low power, and many repeaters to achieve a BPL solution which 
does not interfere. Repeaters are expensive to install and maintain. So there 
are clean solutions, but at a higher cost. Finally it comes down to what the 
farmer in the rural area is willing (and able) to bear to catch up to the 
rest of us. 

Ron