Product Reviews

Creating a basic Ethernet network is simple. However, even though the process of plugging in the network may be easy actually running cable around your house can be inconvenient. Lindy has provided a simple way of circumventing this problem with introduction of its HomePlug Ethernet Bridge. These devices use Powerline Networking which effectively turns your home's electrical power cables into an Ethernet network, turning every mains socket in your home into a potential network point.

To do this HomePlug uses Intellon's PowerPacket technology to convert data sent from an Ethernet device into a signal that can be transmitted over standard power cabling. In operation it works in a similar way to a broadband DSL modem. Like DSL the signal doesn't affect the normal operation of the wires and the mains current won't be affected.

The caveat is that the signal transmitted through a power cable will never be as clean as dedicated Ethernet cabling. As a result HomePlug networks can only run at speeds of up to 14Mbits/sec or 1.75 megabytes per second. This is a maximum figure and Lindy states that typical performance will be more in the 6 to 11Mbits/sec range, comparable to 10 Base-T Ethernet. This isn't fast by any means. The most common form of Ethernet now available is 100 Base-T (100Mbits/sec) and AirPort Extreme now offers wireless transfer rates of up to 54Mbits/sec.

Installation is almost ridiculously simple. There is no software to install so it's just a case of plugging the Ethernet cable

ADVERTISEMENT

into the back of your Mac and then plugging the HomePlug into a mains socket. Do the same with any other device equipped with Ethernet, whether it is a printer or broadband router, and you have a network. You'll need at least two HomePlugs to create the network and a single network can support up to 16 HomePlug points. Because the HomePlug is an Ethernet bridge it's possible to use it to link different types of network, whether wired or wireless, just by plugging a HomePlug into a hub or wireless base station.

To test the HomePlug we tried it in two different locations with two very different types of mains power cabling. Our first test sight was a Victorian terrace house with firaly old wiring. Predictably the HomePlug struggled to maintain a connection between an old iMac downstairs and a Power Mac upstairs. Using MacUser's custom disk test the HomePlug could only manage a slow 2.15Mbits/sec transfer speed. The slow iMac didn't help the speed, however, we felt that the real problem lay in the poor quality of the electrical wiring itself.

Our second test site gave us much more promising results. In this case we installed our network on different sides of the MacUser Lab. The mains cabling is both modern and properly shielded and as a result gave us much better results, despite many of the other numerous power sockets being in use. Transfer speeds weren't stunning at 4.51Mbits/sec (0.56MB/sec) but still useable. Transferring data between a Power Mac and PowerBook G4 was comfortable and iTunes had no problem sharing music between the two machines.

Lindy's HomePlug provides a novel way of quickly creating a network and when used with modern power cabling is perfectly competent, if slow. However, at £49.99 a box, the cost is almost exactly the same as an AirPort Extreme card. For us this offers a better, infinitely more flexible solution even though you'll need to pay for a base station as well. If a pair of HomePlug boxes cost £49.99 together we may have been more forgiving but at this price we find this product hard to recommend considering the slow performance it gives.