Comtrend announced it has become the first manufacturer to offer home networking adaptors that support speeds up to 400 Mbps. Comtrend’s new product, called the PowerGrid 904, is an Ethernet Powerline adaptor that plugs into any standard power plug in a home. The PowerGrid 904 provides Comtrend’s carrier customers a competitive advantage in deploying next-generation triple-play services, particularly IPTV, over existing wiring within a consumer’s home.

 

The PowerGrid 904 plugs into any power outlet into the home and has Ethernet plugs to turn the home power lines into a network. Each power outlet in the home with a PowerGrid 904 becomes a place to connect Residential Gateways, IP Set Top Boxes and Computers to join a high speed home network. The PowerGrid 904 uses advanced chipset technology from DS2 (www.ds2.es) to achieve speeds up to 400Mbps. The PowerGrid 904 and DS2 chipset technology are compliant with the Universal Powerline Alliance (UPA) standard.

 

With this new technology carriers have a simple way to deploy IPTV and other advanced triple-play services within a consumer’s home. The use of power lines within a home to create a network eliminates the costly and time consuming need to re-wire with Ethernet cables. With such features as Quality of Service (QoS), remote management and repeater function, the PowerGrid 904 is capable of distributing reliable services in any home environment.

 

“Reliable distribution of high speed data within a consumer’s home is the key to a successful deployment of triple play services,” said Andrew Morton, Comtrend’s General Manager.  “With the advancement of high speed technologies over copper or fiber for carrier deployment the home network is the final frontier to deliver such services as High Definition TV to any room in a home. The PowerGrid 904 meets our telco customers’ current and future needs with breakneck speeds up to 400Mbps over power lines, QoS, remote management and repeater function.”

 

The PowerGrid 904 will start shipping early next year.