Dennis Ferguson wrote:

Frank Dresser wrote:


"Dennis Ferguson" wrote in message
...


Note that this is not a unique attribute, it is about the same situation
as that which exists for broadband Internet service via cable modems. I
assume that BPL would use the same protection techniques (mostly
depending on control of the receiving equipment, I think). This seems
to mostly work, I very seldom hear complaints about the security of
people's cable connections.


Yeah, I'm almost totally ignorant on this one. I sorta assumed the cable
companies set aside some bandwidth for internet access, and trapped it out
for non-internet cable subscribers.



No, there's no traps for non-Internet cable subscribers. This is why
you can sometimes go to Best Buy, buy a cable modem, plug it in and
then call the cable company to program it on. Everything to everyone
in your neighbourhood is sent through one or more (unused for TV)
television channels, the cable modem gets it all, picks out those packets
which are addressed to you and discards the rest.

This is `secure' only because the configuration and operation of the
modems is controlled entirely by the operator on the RF side of the modem.
There is a standard called DOCSIS which the modems must conform to which
standardizes the configuration interface and is intended to minimize the
possibility that the user can fiddle with any of it. This seems to work
well enough (and maybe the idea of watching your neighbours' Internet
traffic is boring enough?) that I haven't heard of people hacking the modems
the way they do digital cable and DBS receivers, though who knows?

In any case, I think whatever permits cable operators to sell their
service will work equally well for BPL since the situations are
exceedingly similar.

Dennis Ferguson


Sending data over power lines at RF frequencies is a bad idea unless
power companies want to retrofit their lines with grounded shielding.
If the situations are so similar, let's send our power through the tv
cable!

Tom