WD's Livewire Uses AC Outlets for Networking
WD's Livewire kit is ideal for creating network access outside a wireless router's reach.
Tuesday hard drive manufacturer Western Digital (WD) revealed the WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit, a setup that establishes a home network using electrical outlets, and could eliminate the need to string Ethernet cables throughout the home or office. This solution could also boost network reliability in areas outside a wireless router's range.
According to the company, the kit provides two 4-port HomePlug AV adapters and data transfer speeds of up to 200Mbps. One adapter plugs into the user's (required) Ethernet router and an electrical outlet. The other adapter is plugged into another electrical outlet elsewhere in the office or home. WD said that users should expect to see "glitch-free playback of Full-HD 1080p video streams" on up to seven connected devices.
"Wireless networks, while popular, don't always deliver the reliable high-speed connections needed to sustain HD video streaming," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group. "Meanwhile, drilling holes for new Ethernet cables is complicated, expensive and messy. With the WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit, it's truly easy to enjoy all the HD streaming and broadband Internet capabilities of these great new devices anywhere there is an electrical outlet."
In addition to the two adapters, the kit also includes two Ethernet cables, two power cables, software and a 1-year limited warranty. The kit is HomePlug AV certified, IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.3u compliant, and is available now online and offline for $139.99 USD.
- Livewire ,
- Networking ,
- Ethernet ,
- AC-Outlet ,
- LAN
- VIDEO: Samsung's Android Spotted On a Train
- A Peek at Portal 2 Co-op, Where You Play Robots
- AMD Drops 3DNow! Support From Future CPUs
- Intel Now Shipping New Dual Core Atom N550
- Plenty of Tablets At Best Buy This Holiday Season
- Neverwinter Online RPG Heading To PC in 2011
- ViewSonic Tablet Will Have Android & Windows
- Gamer Sues Over Being Addicted to MMO Gaming
- McAfee: Cameron Diaz is Most Dangerous Celeb
- Major League Gaming Bans Razer Onza Gamepad
- Introducing: Tom's Hardware Finland. Game On!
- Firefox 4 B4 Now Online, Brings Tab 'Panorama'
- Microsoft's CPU/GPU Combo Chip is Called 'Vejle'
- Intel, Nokia Create Lab to Work on 3D Holograms
- Intel CEO: Things Need to Change in the U.S.
- Rage, Doom 4 May Not Support Stereoscopic 3D
- Anti-Depressants Used Against StarCraft Addiction
- This is What Internet Explorer 9 Might Look Like
Not sure why this is news. I've had a total of 8 Zyxel Homeplug AV boxes in my home for over 2 years. They connect my ADSL2+ modem/router to several PCs, a PS3, a Popcorn Hour A200, a CCTV DVR box and provide a portable ethernet plug on demand for laptops, Xbox360 etc when needed. No latency problems for gaming and sufficent bandwidth for high def video streaming ... but my point is I've had this for years!
I agree.. Though the 200Mbs is a nice improvement on my 80Mbs, of which I have never achieved, the best being 55Mbps. I am sure it has not overcome the limitation of having to connect via the same circuit, e.g. the outlet I use behind the couch is useless as it is on a seperate circuit to the home office which hosts my router. Happy as with my wireless at any rate.
Not sure why this is news. I've had a total of 8 Zyxel Homeplug AV boxes in my home for over 2 years. They connect my ADSL2+ modem/router to several PCs, a PS3, a Popcorn Hour A200, a CCTV DVR box and provide a portable ethernet plug on demand for laptops, Xbox360 etc when needed. No latency problems for gaming and sufficent bandwidth for high def video streaming ... but my point is I've had this for years!
I get this feeling Toms reports on any new product it finds interesting, whether it is really that innovative or not. I guess I come here to get the more obscure tech news. The more about SSDs the better.