HomePlug Networks to Pick Up Speed

NAPA, CALIFORNIA -- Less than a year after the first HomePlug products shipped, the trade group behind that networking standard is preparing for the sequel. The HomePlug Powerline Alliance has announced plans for a faster, more multimedia-friendly upgrade to the standard for networks using existing electrical wires.

The next-generation spec will be called HomePlug AV rather than HomePlug 2.0. The group wants to emphasize the standard's accessibility to the target home users, as well as its goal of promoting video streaming and audiophile-quality sound in homes, says Tom Reed, HomePlug Powerline Alliance president. The announcement came Thursday at the organization's third annual meeting in this wine-country town.

"The quicker we can move away from PC-to-PC networking and to consumer-electronics networking, the better it's going to be," Reed says.

While the speed of HomePlug AV is not yet determined, Reed says streaming high-definition TV requires 20 megabits per second. The current HomePlug 1.0 spec tops out at 14 megabits per second, slightly faster than Wi-Fi wireless networks.

But speed alone won't distinguish HomePlug AV from competing home-networking standards such as Wi-Fi. The new spec will also include improved "quality of service"--a networking industry term for the capability to consistently guarantee a set amount of bandwidth for applications that depend on it. Without good quality of service, a video stream might slow down or be interrupted when other applications make bandwidth demands on the network.

Ethernet and Wi-Fi don't currently offer any quality-of-service features. The IEEE is working on a Wi-Fi quality-of-service variant, 802.11e, but HomePlug proponents say that effort is hampered by inherent problems in Wi-Fi's underlying ethernet architecture.

Another goal of the new HomePlug spec--competitive pricing--is already being realized by newer HomePlug 1.0 devices. Linksys adapters that were introduced at $149 are already selling for $99, and vendors at Wednesday's meeting said adapters should soon be available for as little as $79. That would put HomePlug on a par, pricewise, with 11-mbps Wi-Fi. Ethernet is the next most popular home networking standard.

HomePlug adapters are also getting smaller. The first ones were heavy brick-size devices with cables at either end--one terminating in a standard plug for a wall outlet, and another in either an ethernet or USB connector. But newer models will be about the size of a PDA AC adapter, and will dispense with one of the cables by plugging directly into a wall outlet.

These smaller, cheaper HomePlug 1.1 adapters should be in stores by the holidays. But don't hold your breath for HomePlug AV products: HomePlug Power Alliance members have just begun working on the spec, with the goal of producing a draft by the end of next year and a final version about two years from now. That means products are unlikely to appear before the end of 2004 or early 2005.

Radio Shack's Pete Griffin said the standard's use of existing electrical wiring in homes may put off consumers who remember being told as children never to put their fingers in electrical outlets.

And Cahners In-Stat analyst Mike Wolf told organization members that HomePlug is a promising technology that faces a tough battle in gaining consumer awareness and market share.

"The market is in its infancy," he noted, adding that HomePlug's timing isn't great because of the economy. "Equipment vendors aren't willing to gamble on new technology."

Wi-Fi has a commanding lead over HomePlug in no-new-wires home networking. But, as Wolf said, "I think there's a need for a network with a wired backbone." With HomePNA phone-line networking eventually expected to fade from the scene, he said, HomePlug could eventually find acceptance among users who feel that wireless products don't provide the coverage they need, and who are unwilling to install ethernet cables in the home.

The next-generation spec's multimedia features could also prove compelling, he added. "It's definitely the way they need to go."