Powerline networking as an alternative networking solution: a South African experience

In the recent years, many new networking technologies have been introduced, and powerline communications (PLC) is one such technology, this paper gives a detailed description of PLC. Firstly a brief history of PLC is given. The different PLC technologies are described, a comparison of PLC to other networking technologies, namely Ethernet, wireless and another no new wires technology known as phoneline networking is given. The comparison focuses on media access control and the frame format. The short comings of PLC are highlighted. A discussion of the results of tests carried out on a low voltage powerline network at the University of Fort Hare and other test sites follows. In conclusion the paper focuses on interference from PLC and the future of the networking technology.