Originally Posted By: mk378
Originally Posted By: Ducked
There used to be wired ethernet that used the domestic ring-main as cabling. Probably still is. Don't know/can't remember if there was a WAN equivalent but I can't see any real reason why not.
Data signals will not pass through the step-down transformer on the pole to the main line. So, communication is limited to within the same house or between neighbors that are connected to the same transformer.
There is a proposal for "broadband over power line" but it would use power lines only for final delivery to the house. Wide-area distribution would be by fiber optic run alongside the main power lines, with a fiber to power line converter at each transformer.
There you go then. A technical possibility, with a bit of tweakery.
Seems to be still available off the shelf for a LAN
https://www.techradar.com/news/networking/powerline-networking-what-you-need-to-know-930691
This bit
"Sending signals across a home's electrical wiring isn't a 21st century idea. In fact, the power companies have been sending control signals over the mains since the 1920s − it's how electricity meters know when to switch to an off-peak rate. "
seems to suggest longer range operation, but perhaps I'm misinterpreting it, or they're making it up
Originally Posted By: Ducked
There used to be wired ethernet that used the domestic ring-main as cabling. Probably still is. Don't know/can't remember if there was a WAN equivalent but I can't see any real reason why not.
Data signals will not pass through the step-down transformer on the pole to the main line. So, communication is limited to within the same house or between neighbors that are connected to the same transformer.
There is a proposal for "broadband over power line" but it would use power lines only for final delivery to the house. Wide-area distribution would be by fiber optic run alongside the main power lines, with a fiber to power line converter at each transformer.
There you go then. A technical possibility, with a bit of tweakery.
Seems to be still available off the shelf for a LAN
https://www.techradar.com/news/networking/powerline-networking-what-you-need-to-know-930691
This bit
"Sending signals across a home's electrical wiring isn't a 21st century idea. In fact, the power companies have been sending control signals over the mains since the 1920s − it's how electricity meters know when to switch to an off-peak rate. "
seems to suggest longer range operation, but perhaps I'm misinterpreting it, or they're making it up