HomePlug fires back with powerline IEEE P1901 Draft Standard adoption
By Steven Kim 
posted Jul 29th 2009 5:19PM
posted Jul 29th 2009 5:19PM
Highly variable real-world performance aside, the lack of a well-defined standard for powerline networking isn't helping the technology take off; but sticking consumers between the warring G.hn and HomePlug AV factions doesn't help anybody. In the latest round of the fight, the IEEE P1901 reached Draft Standard acceptance, and -- wouldn't you know it -- the onus of coming up with compliance and interoperability testing for products will fall upon the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. Just to raise the stakes, the Draft Standard is aiming for backward compatibility with existing devices. Sounds like herding cats to us, but with finalization of the Standard slated for 2010, it looks like things are going to heat up in the coming months.
Steve, I am using a Linksys powerline adapter and loving it! When my LG BD390 was getting spotty connection with my "N" wireless (due to some oddities about my house), I just hooked up the powerline adapters (took only about 10 minutes from beginning to end) and now I have a solid ethernet connection. Seems a shame to waste that wireless N, but this just works better.
The service providers are going with G.hn and that will seal the fate of the home networking industry.