HomePlug uses electrical power wiring in the home as an ad-hoc physical layer; signals are encoded as low-frequency RF, pumped into the wires and plucked off by listening devices. HomePlug Powerline is supposed to offer up to 14 Mbps data rates and will in theory offer coverage up to 300 meters through powerlines. Since the basement to the second floor is a little fraction less than that, distance wasn't a factor.

The IOGEAR Bridge can be mistaken for an oversized battery charger. It has two green LED lights on the front, one for power, one for data and the lower one blinks when data is flowing through the device. It also has a 10BaseT connector and a two-prong plug to go into a household electric outlet. It took me about a minute to pull all the plastic off of everything, another minute to skim the manual, realize that the hardware is as about idiot-proof as it gets, and just plugged in a couple into the wall and Ethernet connections. One device was connected into an Ethernet port on my Linksys Wireless Router downstairs and the other device was connected to the PC on the second floor. The devices come packaged with a six foot length of 10BaseT Ethernet cable that's new, so I didn't even need to get cabling.

After booting up the upstairs PC, I tuned into an Internet radio station and let it play for the next hour or so. Unlike the spotty 802.11b connection, the HomePlug powerline connection just kept going. Clocked data rates were at 10 Mbps. Since the default mode is "bridge," the IOGEAR HomePlug powerline device can also be used with your favorite Mac or Unix box, so long as you don't need blazing speed. I like the fact IOGEAR has included a short printed manual with plenty of diagrams on options how to network computers and devices together. The manual recommends not plugging the strip into a UPS or powerstrip as either device may (would likely) filter out the RF "noise" of data transmissions.

The IOGEAR gizmo also offers 56-bit DES hardware encryption. I'd need to plug in the utility disk on the Windows boxes and encode a DES key, but frankly if someone is monitoring the wiring of my household for data traffic, I've likely got a lot more problems than 56-bit DES is going to solve. You can also use the utility software to turn the gizmo into a node rather than a bridge, but there's no need for me to do so at this stage of the game. Cost per package is $49.95 list price, so it cost me a little bit under $100 pre-tax. I've seen offers for cheaper devices, but the IOGEAR stuff looked reliable.

I have to confess I'm a little intrigued now that I've used it and it seems to work without a headache. The HomePlug Powerline Alliance (HPPA?) is plotting out future speed enhancements called HomePlug AV to work with HDTV players, DVRs, and other entertainment devices to support speeds around 45-50 Mbps. In theory, entertainment devices would come integrated with HomePlug AV on-board so you'd just plug it into the wall and they would be networked automatically. Given some of the noise issues at 2.4 GHz, HomePlug AV is worth watching. µ