HomePlug continues to gain supporters

Network Architecture This newsletter is sponsored by D-Link D-Link Unified Switching Improves Network Efficiency As businesses scale, blending traditional wireless and wired networks become a challenge. D-Link's xStack 3200 series incorporate effortless wireless switching and advanced wired functionality for a TOTAL unified network solution. Discover how D-Link can help take your network to the next level. Download your copy of "Unified Wireless Switching" to learn more. Network World's Network Architecture Newsletter, 09/18/07 HomePlug continues to gain supporters By Jeff Caruso The HomePlug Powerline Alliance recently announced that more companies are joining in and planning to use the technology espoused by the group. HomePlug is one of those technologies that just feels like it could bust out at any moment and be much more widely used - because the concept is so appealing. You plug your device into an electrical socket, and the device uses the power outlet as a network cable, communicating with devices plugged into other outlets in your house or building. The HomePlug Powerline Alliance, with about 60 member companies, says it has overcome the problem of electrical noise with "advanced, optimized algorithms in semiconductor technology." Get Up to Speed on the Latest in WLANs Easily stay on top of the latest developments and issues in WLAN technology, standards, security, telephony, management and more with Network World's latest Executive Guide, "Keeping Up With the Wireless Whirlwind." Click here to download! Earlier this month, the alliance pointed to some new members, and said that DirecTV is using HomePlug technology to enable its customers to connect broadband services and home computers with its DirecTV Plus HD DVRs. This allows those customers to "enjoy photos and music content on their TVs," though that hardly seems like the most interesting application they could have thought up. Russound is using HomePlug technology in the multiroom audio-video systems that it produces, in an attempt to make installation easier. New members include VisualGate Systems, which is looking to the technology for security applications, and Grid Net and Cellnet Technology, which are looking at environmentally friendly applications. Bryan Betts of Techworld recently pointed out that "HomePlug Powerline can quite cheerfully wire up an Ethernet socket anywhere that you'd plug your laptop in to charge up. So how long before we start to see it built into laptops and their power supplies?" Well, that's a fair question. Will the market see a need to go beyond Wi-Fi and offer powerline communications as another, standard option? Or is the technology doomed to be pigeonholed as something that sounds cooler than it really is?   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: Jeff Caruso is managing editor of online news for Network World. He oversees daily online news posting and newsletter editing, and writes the NetFlash daily news summary, the High-Speed LANs newsletter and the Voices of Networking newsletter. Contact him at jcaruso@nww.com This newsletter is sponsored by D-Link D-Link Unified Switching Improves Network Efficiency As businesses scale, blending traditional wireless and wired networks become a challenge. D-Link's xStack 3200 series incorporate effortless wireless switching and advanced wired functionality for a TOTAL unified network solution. Discover how D-Link can help take your network to the next level. Download your copy of "Unified Wireless Switching" to learn more. ARCHIVE Archive of the Network Architecture Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007