Powerline Networking Technology - The Perfect Example of Plug and Play

Turn any electrical outlet into an Ethernet Network connection. Easy to install and use, Powerline networking adaptors plug straight in to any 3 pin mains socket. They will automatically detect one another and form a network between themselves using your existing mains wires rather than requiring you to install specialised network cable.

Once the Powerline network adaptors have established a connection between themselves (it only takes a few seconds) you connect your PC equipment to them with the supplied cat 5e network cable which plugs in to the Powerline network adaptor at one end and the network port of your PC at the other.

Providing the other settings are correctly configured on your PC (ip address, etc) you should now have an instant network capable of sharing and transferring files, printing, connecting to the internet and any other function which can be normally be carried out over a computer network. Home users can go even further by connecting game consoles, set-top boxes and other networking devices.

Using VOIP phones you can develop a small telephony system with Powerline Networking Adaptors enabling you to have phone extensions in different rooms and even different areas or countries, over the internet.

You will require a minimum of 2 Powerline networking adaptors to create a network (which can usually be ordered economically as a twin pack), and then other users or devices can be added using single unit packs or extra twin packs as required.

A new faster breed of Powerline Network adaptors has been developed to better cope with the demands put on a network by the distribution of high resolution video and audio signals. The traditional 85Mbps units remain more than fast enough for the majority of network & data needs and, it has to be said, many of the audio and video distribution needs of home users but for high resolution films, videos and games a speed boost could be in order.

A new chipset has been introduced (the Intellon INT6000 high-speed powerline chipset) which enables transfer rates of 200Mbps, more than twice as fast as the current 85Mbps models. Improvements in QOS (Quality of Service) provide the guaranteed bandwidth reservations for multimedia payloads including TV over IP (IPTV), online-gaming, VoIP Calls, extending Wireless LANs coverage, Audio-Video transmission across the network as well as Network camera connectivity for CCTV monitoring.

The downside is that the new 200Mbps models are not backwards compatible with the 85Mbps models and networks formed by using both types of adaptor are not able to “see” each other to exchange data. If high definition video distribution is required then the 200Mbps adaptors should be considered, but for normal networking requirements, powerline network broadband, network printing and file sharing, and distribution of mp3, video and presentation files the 85Mbps models continue to provide excellent service.

See our Frequently Asked Questions page to help decide if Powerline Networking is for you

Illustrations and Examples

Small Network of 2 PCs and 1 printer networked with Powerline Network Adaptors

Add a Broadband Modem or a Router, and another Powerline Network Adaptor
for shared internet access for the network.

Adding another PC to the network is as simple as plugging in another
Powerline Network Adaptor.

In the example shown below, the Laptop PC shown above would really struggle to connect
to the network wirelessly through the thick concrete floor, but it is made very simple by adding
a Powerline Networking Wireless Access Point as shown.

The illustrations above show how a simple 2 user network can be upgraded and enlarged to offer shared network printing, shared internet access and extended so that it works through thick concrete or stone walls without the installation of a single piece of Cat 5 or Cat 6 network cable (save for the short patch leads).

The offices illustrated above could just as easily be rooms in a house, classrooms in a school, temporary rooms in a conference centre or anywhere else where a speedy, reliable and secure network could be required. Likewise, the PCs shown could easily be Apple Macs (one is, in actual fact!), file servers, media servers or games consoles in the home.

Powerline Networking is the very essence of Plug and Play simplicity.