[Sussex] Devolo MicroLink dLAN - Wireless alternative

[John D.]

Jon Fautley wrote:

>Steve Dobson wrote:
>  
>
>>I've heard of these, and not that they are about £55 each - which is
>>more expensive than wireless these days.
>>    
>>
>
>Indeed, they're pretty expensive...
>
>  
>
>>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.
>>    
>>
>
>They include 'DESpro' encryption apparantly (which I think is basically
>DES with a slightly longer keylength - not that hard to crack). They do
>work the same as the baby monitors, and X10. The problem is that if you
>have a 'noisy' power supply around the house, they have a tendancy to
>not work, or work sporadically.
>
>Anything that gives off nasty amounts of RF can cause problems for these
>devices - i.e. washing machines, tumble dryers, fridges, freezers,
>hoovers, TV's, Radio's (although less so than TV's) etc etc
>
>Also, ISTR that you can only realistically get 10Mbit out of them (which
>may sound a lot, but that's in ideal conditions).
>
>Unless you have a really good reason not to get wireless, I'd personally
>go with that - or run a cable.
>
>  
>
>>The solution is to fit a mains filter where the elecy comes into your
>>house - I think they are expensive.
>>    
>>
>
>One of these is what you're talking about, I belive:
>http://www.laser.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=113&category_id=d189e594162cb609b6593eb0d10ab892&
>
>I think this should isolate all mains-bourne carriers, but it may only
>do X10. This device also claims to knock out nasty RF stuff too, which
>is nice.
>
>The problem is that you'd have to get it professionally installed. I'm
>sure there's legal requirements surrounding electrical work on your own
>property, but as Frances mentioned she is a tenant, you'd almost
>certainly need a professional electrician to install it.
>
>Oh, and pulling the master fuse tends to annoy the leccy company too ;)
>
>Jon
>  
>
Theres also a bit of information about these devices here
http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline.htm
It's the one that's marketed by Solwise.

I haven't looked into the idea closely myself, but would have thought 
that it has potential, provided one of the better industry standard 
encryption methods could be used.

As for Jon mentioning noisy appliances, well that's the job for a band 
pass filter, pretty much the same as you'd get in "proper" RF kit. 
Though even then, you might not remove any interference completely, but 
probably enough to do the job.

It's fair to remember that _ANY_ unscreened wire is capable of emitting 
RF. Just sit outside most of the big brokerage houses in the City, with 
a wide range RF receiver and the correct IT kit to act as the terminal 
equipment and you could potentially have a very profitable time - Don't 
forget though, insider trading is a prisonable offence :D

regards

John D.

p.s. it's also not that difficult to "screen" cables carrying info/data 
though.