WD's Livewire Uses AC Outlets for Networking
WD's Livewire kit is ideal for creating network access outside a wireless router's reach.
Tuesday hard drive manufacturer Western Digital (WD) revealed the WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit, a setup that establishes a home network using electrical outlets, and could eliminate the need to string Ethernet cables throughout the home or office. This solution could also boost network reliability in areas outside a wireless router's range.
According to the company, the kit provides two 4-port HomePlug AV adapters and data transfer speeds of up to 200Mbps. One adapter plugs into the user's (required) Ethernet router and an electrical outlet. The other adapter is plugged into another electrical outlet elsewhere in the office or home. WD said that users should expect to see "glitch-free playback of Full-HD 1080p video streams" on up to seven connected devices.
"Wireless networks, while popular, don't always deliver the reliable high-speed connections needed to sustain HD video streaming," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group. "Meanwhile, drilling holes for new Ethernet cables is complicated, expensive and messy. With the WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit, it's truly easy to enjoy all the HD streaming and broadband Internet capabilities of these great new devices anywhere there is an electrical outlet."
In addition to the two adapters, the kit also includes two Ethernet cables, two power cables, software and a 1-year limited warranty. The kit is HomePlug AV certified, IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.3u compliant, and is available now online and offline for $139.99 USD.
Wait till apple unveils theirs.
And yes, this technology has been out for a while now. When they first came out they were only like 10-15 Mbs. 200 Mbs seems to be where everyone's at these days with powerline.
As long as I can use all Operating Systems on it I would be fine with it.
Price must also be decent.
"and how can you transfer your network signal over your electrical outlets?"
The frequency of the AC-current is used as a carrier wave and the information is modulated upon it, much like how FM-radio works.
Apple and decent price do not go hand in hand
You mean the price tag? Yeah that'll be a real headline: Apple unveils DC Power Networking, $4,000 per computer.
Yummy...
I'm sure that only apple stuff will work on it.
BTW my first post was sarcasm.
Because 50-60 hertz is totally going to transfer 200mb/s of data through two pins.