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Broadband over powerline is ready to explode
By Larry Hendrick | March 6, 2007
This technology could be the real competitor to cable and DSL. The speeds are comparable and with the kinks worked out from a few years ago, BPL could come into its own. The best part; they are delivering synchronous, not asynchronous service. The 3Mbs download speed is matched with a 3Mbs upload speed.
The upload speed is one thing that would keep me from using cable (if available). I have 768Kbs upload on my DSL and it takes forever to upload a 20MB podcast to my Motivation on the Run website. This would be a great increase in productivity over my current status. That few minutes could be used for another project.
If anyone is using this technology, I would love to hear from you. It would be an interesting conversation, I’m sure.
Broadband over powerline is ready to explode
March 01, 2007 (Computerworld) — Some call it “the third wire” and others call it “broadband over powerline” (BPL). But for Tim Barhorst, a technology consultant in Cincinnati, it’s his Internet connection.
“It seems equivalent to standard cable service and a little faster than standard DSL,” he noted. “But the speed is not asynchronous, meaning you get the same speed upstream and downstream.”
Barhorst is getting his broadband Internet connection via BPL, through the power lines that run to his house, from a utility called Duke Energy, although the Internet service is handled by Current Communications in Germantown, Md.
Third-wire users like Barhorst are likely to become a lot more common in the next five years. Chris Rodin, an analyst at Parks Associates in Dallas, estimates that there are today no more than 150,000 BPL users in the U.S., but he expects to see the figure rise to 2.5 million by 2011, especially in rural areas unserved by cable or DSL.
Topics: Business, Technology |