Powerline Networking: Encouraging, Albeit Incomplete, Progress

In one of my numerous past powerline networking writeups, I pointed out an odd glitch with my Aztech units (based on Intellon's HomePlug 1.0 Turbo '85 Mbps' technology). Attempts to communicate with the majority of my LAN (including my router, and therefore also the broader Internet) were unsuccessful for the first few minutes, for any LAN client that employed my powerline networking spur. However, that LAN client could (if it had a static IP address, or had previously received a successful DHCP assignment) talk to other LAN clients situated on the same powerline branch. And, if I waited long enough, I'd achieve full and, from that point onward, stable connectivity.

Thanks to a tip I received from a gloomy HomePlug 1.0 Turbo writeup in Maximum PC magazine's May issue (echoed in a more recent, equally gloomy, Maximum PC writeup, which isn't yet on the magazine's website) I uncovered another hiccup. Courtesy of a faulty HomePlug 1.0 Turbo UPnP implementation, my Xbox 360 couldn't 'see', for example, music or photo libraries stored on PCs running Windows Media Connect that were powerline-tethered to the LAN.

When I alerted Intellon to my findings, they directed me to a Microsoft support document that exactly described the problems I was seeing and also provided a solution; the powerline adapters needed to be running v1.6 firmware. Intellon upgraded the firmware on my Aztech and SMC Turbo 1.0 adapters for me (unfortunately, the upgrade doesn't appear to be end user-negotiable, at least not at this time), and I'm delighted to report that it solves all of the functional issues I'd previously encountered with HomePlug 1.0 Turbo.

End of story? Unfortunately, not quite. Intellon had indicated to me that v1.6 firmware was beta'd in January and finalized in March. Why, then, did the AirLink 101 APL-8511 adapters (HomePlug 1.0 Turbo) I bought on sale last Saturday at Fry's Electronics ($24.99 each, limit 2, normally $59.99 each) still contain v1.5 firmware? Couple the delay from firmware finalization to phase-in to the retail channel (aside: what does this delay suggest about the magnitude of staged powerline adapter inventory in the retail channel?) with the inability for end users to upgrade their purchased units, and HomePlug 1.0 Turbo will unfortunately continue to incur an undeserved black eye for some time to come.

Ironically, in that same October issue of Maximum PC, in fact on the same page as the negative SMC Turbo 1.0 review, was an upbeat analysis of Netgear's HDX-B101 adapters, based on DS2's '200 Mbps' powerline technology and currently retailing (according to Froogle) for around $200 for an adapter two-pack. And last Friday's Fry's Electronics ad showcased another HomePlug competitor, Panasonic's '190 Mbps' HD-PLC Power Ethernet Adapter Starter Kit, at $149.99 for a two-pack. I haven't yet test-driven HD-PLC, but I'm going to try to track down a Panasonic PR person. Stay tuned.

As I type these words I'm enroute to the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, where HomePlug AV is on the technical session agenda, and next week the HomePlug Powerline Alliance is holding its 2^nd Annual Technology Conference. The HomePlug gang is in quite a bind at the moment; their current-generation gear doesn't work as advertised when running obsolete-but-prevalent firmware, and the next-generation '200 Mbps' technology still isn't here. Can they pull out of their stall, or will a competitor's approach snag the 200 Mbps flag? Where are you placing your powerline bets?

Followup: Here's the more recent Maximum PC writeup.