Powerline Networking Product Certification
In our Powerline Networking 101 article, we discussed the HomePlug industry certification and the HomePlug Alliance, the organization that designates products as HomePlug-certified. Now, the question is, how does the HomePlug Alliance deem these products worthy of certification?
From a functionality standpoint, the HomePlug Alliance stresses interoperability for certified products to ensure any product that is HomePlug-certified works seamlessly with other HomePlug-certified devices. A third-party testing laboratory based in France, called Laboratoire des Applications Numériques (commonly referred to in HomePlug Alliance literature as LAN), is responsible for testing the products.
LAN says its powerline expertise includes two core subjects: network performance and the powerline product electrical interface. Network performance is measured by observing traffic generation, signal loss, latency, delay and jitter. The powerline adapter electrical interface is evaluated by measuring signal impedance and electromagnetic interference, as well as sources of signal instability, including noise and propagation frequency selectivity.