Powerline Networking

I saw this site www.Powerlinecommunications.net

I am working with Corinex PLC equipment, for home office networking and am happy with the results. OSMB Consulting has been looking at PLC for 3 years, have exhibited at PLC conference in Frankfurt and will do same in Paris, Oct 29/30.
For in-house I get data rates of 14, 7.5 and 3.5 mbps for my three devices, depending on location and interference from other applinaces. Also can provide PLC router, direct from WAN to electric wire, wireless to PLC bridge.
I have connected a DSL line to a wireless router, then used a wireless/ethernet bridge as the WAN connection to ethernet router that connects to PLC via ethernet adapter - everything was up and running in 15 minutes with no degradation of service from straight ethernet cabled solution.
Also available is PLC - Cable adapter, PLC signal can travel over coax with no interference on cable signal, and extend PLC reach to 700 metres for larger installations.
www.osmb.ca

Thanks peeps!

The true meaning of all-in-one -- Gizmodo posts about a WiFi adapter inside a light, with powerline networking for connectivity. Enjoy.

it'd never work as a last/first-mile solution.
As NT discovered in UK, transmitting modulated high-speed data over powerline is pretty much the same as making broadcast antennas for the datastreams and planting them along every street. RF guys get their yayas reading about these wonderous powerline schemes, and snicker at FCC's flirtation with potential armageddon.
They may be out there, but I'm not now aware of any modulation technique which can avoid the radiation or ingress, since powerlines were never meant to transport RF energy of any sort and (unlike twisted pairs) have horrendous transmission-line characteristics.
For short-ranges in homes, you can keep p-p signal levels low enuf not to spew too much crap, and avoid the transformer issues.
Here's a recent article re powerline networking.
Then there's today's Slash mentioning Siemens gadgets.

So, it works... though data rates aren't fantastic. Powerline networking uses high frequency changes in the supplied current to transport data from outlet to outlet. So, as you might assume, it's a broadcast medium, not a switched medium, so they use collision avoidance techniques (requesting use of the channel before using it to avoid two nodes transmitting at the same time).

As well, the max data rates are dictated by signal to noise ration - and because of a typically inconsistent power infrastructure in a house (lots of nodes, weird "wire lengths", circuit breakers, etc.) the available data rates can be really unpredictable (depending on appliances being used, house, etc.). The HomePlug alliance says you can get 14Mbps, but I'd be impressed with anything over 10, and it's probably more likely to be in the 7Mbps range... and remember, that's shared.

This article does a pretty good job of explaining the tech details.

Oh... and I'm not "ex-Nortel elite"... I'm current... heh heh heh. :D

As far as I know, the only place with a significant roll-out is Germany, by a monopoly.

The version that Nortel had was trialed in Britain, but it ended up that the specific frequency given off by some streetlights caused interference.

There was a company in the US that promised very high bandwidth (~1Gbps) -- that was something crazy like modulating the magnetic field given off by powerlines.

I'm not "up to speed", but have noticed an increased interest, usually in conjunction with wireless endpoints -- using powerline for long-haul, then wireless for last-mile. There are a number of companies (completely non-definitive, just ones that come to mind) -- Amperion, Electric Broadband , etc. etc. Here's an industry association: The PLC Association

Of course, all that stuff refers to long-haul networking.

If you are talking in-home, then you'll want to check out the HomePlug Alliance -- the industry standard/consortium that defines/promotes powerline products for in-home use. A recent cnet article has some details.

That's about all without more specific questions. Like, is it a greenfield development? Is it to rural/underserved areas? etc. etc.