[Sussex] Devolo MicroLink dLAN - Wireless alternative

[Steve Dobson]

Frances

On Thu, Sep 22, 2005 at 01:43:47PM +0100, frances at uthink.co.uk wrote:
> This kit uses an existing mains power circuit to network two or more PCs
> together, complete with DESpro encryption, if that's any good. Costs £100
> for two though.
> 
> I thought this might be an alternative solution for my landlord to help
> his daughter get connected to the Internet on her Mac OS X. We don't want
> wireless, and at the moment I just strung my 50 metre LAN cable from the
> ground floor to the attic floor. Her bedroom is situated semi-diagonally
> two floors up in a large Victorian detached house, which has exceedingly
> thick brick walls (some of you may remember me mentioning them before :-]
> )
> 
> I thought it might be worth bringing to his notice, and also to new
> neighbours in the next street. They've just moved in and the last owner
> apparently had his PC in the attic, whereas they want them all downstairs.
> 
> Personally, I'm not interested in wireless, and at the moment all my PCs
> are in one room, and I have my own broadband, so I wouldn't need this
> device. But it makes me wonder, just academically, if you could have two
> sets of these things on two different networks, in the same house.
> 
> http://www.boysstuff.co.uk/product.asp?id=12698&cid=26
> 
> Review: http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/review.php?reviewId=719

I've heard of these, and not that they are about £55 each - which is
more expensive than wireless these days.

I assume that they work like the old mains baby monitors by "injecting"
the network signal into the main power wave (Colin can describe this in
more electrical detail I'm sure).  If so I would expect that they 
suffer the same problem, the signal can carry for some distance - like
into the house next door - I doubt there is any encryption going on so
a bit of a security hole.

The solution is to fit a mains filter where the elecy comes into your
house - I think they are expensive.

Steve

-- 
Intuition, however illogical, is recognised as a command prerogative.
		-- Kirk, "Obsession", stardate 3620.7
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