ECN Forum Forums Technical Discussion Re: Computers and the Internet Forget network cabling!

Products of like this homeplug system have appeared on the market in the last year or two. Technology is rapidly advancing and soon you will be able to get broadband, telephone and cable TV just by plugging a device into any ordinary mains socket outlet. Question is, will we see energy and telecom companies merge?

I still see a problem with security. That device is not using very strong encription and what covers your house also covers every house on your side of the transformer, maybe farther if you are on aerial distribution. There are already lots of hackers driving around looking for wireless access points (War Driving). I prefer not to have my data hanging out for the world to see. I think that dedicated wiring will be with us for a while yet. If the plug in devices get very common, us electricians will likely get a lot of business bringing power wiring up to acceptable data standards.

Aren't there band locks availablefor the power lan?
we have them for the installation bus, installed at the meter, to prevent signals going out into the net.

People seem to be happy with all manner of equipment which broadcasts their data for anyone to see, from the wireless PC keyboards now coming into use to the Bluetooth systems.

It's really only a new take on what's been happening for some years with wireless baby monitors, cordless phones, and other similar devices.

Though illegal by Federal Law here in the US, messages/phone numbers sent by pager are free for the taking with the right equipment.

Encryption is the key

So is anybody here running a wireless LAN at home? I have a combination of wired and wireless, having a wireless card on the laptop is nice, on nice days I can go sit outside and surf ECN.