Internet over L1 and L2???

[Ray Austin]

Internet over the Power grid??? hmmm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/technology/10POWE.html?ex=1051243200&en=248bc19ed44561e2&ei=5004&partner=UNTD

[fberger]

Nothing new, it's been installed in Switzerland years ago, before DSL and cable modems in the US.

This will be welcome competition in the US, but the problem is still that too many lines are not underground and go down at the first storm. Overseas, bercause of environmental considerations, most power lines that feed houses are underground are quite reliable.

Fred

[Brian Ellis]

If you don't have power, do you need the Internet?

[Marshmallowman]

or via gas pipelines

see

http://whirlpool.net.au/

about half way down.

more details here

http://australia.internet.com/r/article/jsp/sid/12926

[wkulecz]

Without power you may need communication more than ever.

Here, both phones and power are largely above ground. Power goes out for large areas with every storm. Phones very rarely go out. I was without power for two weeks after huricane Aleica, if the phone ever went out, I didn't notice it.

When a powerline goes down large parts of the system automatically turn off to protect the grid and generators, when a phone line goes down the problem remains localized, only people trying to call to/from affected numbers know about it.

I've been using powerline controllers for a long time (BSR X10) I'm skeptical that this will scale well.

PC Mag columnist John Dvorak worte a column about it saying if it really worked it'd be the final touch for 1984 arriving ~20 years late -- imagine every toaster or anything else that plugs in as a potential vector for spyware now that webcams are cheap enough to put in every cellphone.

--wally.