HomePlug technology never quite made it as a mainstream networking technology in the U.S., mainly because it was pushed to the back of the "alternative" (to Ethernet) networking technology pack by cheaper and faster wireless LAN products. Instead, it found an more appreciative audience in Europe and with companies like Corinex that have used it to wire hotels, apartment buildings and other multi-dwelling units (MDUs) for Internet access.

One of the key things holding HomePlug 1.0 (the current version) back has been its best-case 5 Mbps application-level throughput. Although this speed is just fine for networking broadband Internet connections around a home for web browsing and email, it's way too slow for handling heavy local activity such as large file transfers, and barely adequate for video streaming.

Since the high speed version - HomePlug AV - has been just around the corner for about three years now, the big dog of HomePlug chipmakers - Intellon - needed something to respond to the IPTV service providers hammering on them for a solution that could reliably supply the 5 Mbps or so needed to support one of their video streams. What they came up with is HomePlug "Turbo" (officially dubbed HomePlug 1.0 with Turbo) technology, which was introduced at last year's CES 2005, with retail devices finally starting shipments around the end of last year.

Intellon specs HomePlug Turbo's maximum raw data rate at 85Mbps vs. plain ol' HomePlug 1.0's 14Mbps. This potential 6X throughput improvement could expand HomePlug's usefulness beyond networking basic Internet connectivity, and support Intellon's goal of handling IPTV streams. So I sent out a call for HomePlug Turbo adapters and ended up with products from Actiontec, NETGEAR and SMC to put to the test.