![]() ![]() Belkin claimed a 1 Gbps powerline adapter last year based on the Hispano-Scottish startup Gigle Semiconductor, but the reviews indicated that it performed no better than the 200 Mbps chipsets supplied by Intellon. Intellon, acquired by Atheros towards the end of 2009, is the brain behind almost all the powerline network adapters shipped in the last few years. We have been following the consumer powerline networking area over the last 4 or 5 years, and realized that there is only one chipset vendor shipping any appreciable amount of chips in this space. Wikipedia traces the history of the HomePlug standard quite well. On the other hand, if you want to learn about the history of powerline networking and the companies active in this space, this, as well as the next section, will be of interest. If you are interested in only finding out how the WD Livewire performs, please feel free to continue reading from the 'Unboxing & Setup Impressions' section onwards. There are other competing standards (we will cover them briefly in the next section), but the product being covered today adheres to the HomePlug AV standard. It is the baseline specification for the upcoming IEEE standard (IEEE P1901). The HomePlug AV standard aims to deliver networking capabilities around the house by taking advantage of the already existing electrical wiring. In this scenario, the electrical network within the house looks like an unexploited part of the equation. Running an Ethernet cable around the house is one option, but it is too cumbersome and costly for many. Further, not all consumers have the luxury of a flawless wireless network in their residence. Many a consumer has been frustrated by the incessant buffering and playback stuttering while putting wireless networks (even of the 802.11n variety) to use in such scenarios. ![]() Examples of such units include Netflix streaming TVs or media streamers such as the WDTV Live. ![]() While many of them have the capability to connect to wireless networks, it is not really a great option for many of the bandwidth hungry units. Most of the CE devices in the market today connect to the Internet as well as the home network. ![]()
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