Why are there no PowerLine Smart Plugs?
Another blog post which is a long and complex search query.
I have a bunch of smart plugs. Some use WiFi, some use Zigbee, some use Bluetooth. None of them use PowerLine Ethernet. Why is that?
I have a bunch of PowerLine Ethernet adapters. They let me use my home's electrical wiring as a network. They also let me plug electrical items into them. But none of them can be controlled remotely. Why is that?
I want to take one of these:
And mix it up with one of these:
That way I'd be able to monitor the power consumption of a device and remotely operate it. It wouldn't need WiFi, it would have a permanent and reliable connection to my LAN.
I've searched AliExpress and I can't find what I'm looking for. If you think this exists - or if you make it - please let me know!
Brian Williams says:
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ambrosen says:
My personal wishlist would be for a USB-C power adapter that also provided an ethernet connection, so you could just plug a laptop in anywhere in the house no matter how congested or flaky the WiFi was there.
Mr Snazz says:
Jeremiah Stover says:
reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication
I looked at TI's solution (I think it was the BOOSTXL-AFE031-DF1) (~$60). Then chose to use a product
from ali-express KQ-130F (~$8)
I only needed a single outlet to turn on and off, local or remote (one way communication) - however it appears to also be possible to extend to multiple outlets and to return power usage data (2-way).
Andreas says:
1) Powerline is power hungry. A Devolo adapter for example eats 5-10W. Multiply this by the number of smart plugs or switches you use and you might end up with a sizable electrical bill. This would also mandate relatively large chassis.
2) There are at least two competing, and incompatible, PL standards: HomePlug AV and G.hn. And in theory there would a another standard specifically for IoT/home automation-devices. Which one would you expect to be implemented?
Andreas says:
Sam says:
If you made one I'd buy it.
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Brian Williams says:
@edent says:
However this came not long before the first wave of affordable wireless technologies that fill the same niche and the subsequent explosion of interest in "Smart Home" IoT.
I think even HomePlug kind of teamed up with ZigBee in the end: https://sunspec.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Zigbee-SEP-2-docs-11-0167-18-seed-app-spec-draft-for-editors-review.pdf
Whereas I think the HomePlug AV gear still solves a pre-existing more common problem (getting high-ish bandwidth networking across a gap that's infeasible for Wi-Fi.)
HomePlug Green PHY did find widespread adoption in one other niche, though: the CCS2 charging standard for DC fast charge of electric vehicles!
I want one with PoE injectors so I can use an external AP easily and neatly.
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Has the homeplug standard been updated recently. I don’t believe I’ve seen any new devices on the market for some time now. Happy to be corrected.
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@Edent Few years ago, I was looking for a PoE clock radio, so it could have NTP and streaming audio. Never found one.
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@Edent I looked into this just a bit a few years ago; basically there seems to be a constellation of smallish problematic factors which has (so far) precluded commercial efforts into bringing something like this forward. (High power requirements, competing standards, TI sitting on IP, significantly cheaper radio alternatives...)
I did find at the time that there was a hobbyist who had produced small runs of kits using the TI parts. I will poke around Tindie to see whether that person still fits the bill and report back.
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