Hasn Power Line Carrier or PLC been in operation for years without problems?
The “original” PLC is a very low frequency, narrow bandwidth signal used for control equipment in the power grid. It is in the neighborhood of 100 to 180 kHz (that’s kilohertz, not megahertz). It is not intended for high speed data transfer, but rather simple commands, like “turn relay on”, “turn relay off”. It is also used to send “messages” up the line when a major failure occurs so that other network elements don’t trip off when senses a fault. This keeps the power grid from falling down like a bunch of dominoes (like what happen recently with the blackout in the Northeast :-). Usually people refer to the 1-80 Mhz “PLC” as BPL, although some use the acronyms interchangeably and in my opinion, wrongly. Comparing “original” PLC and BPL is like comparing apples to oranges. PLC is brief, primitive commands and is very narrow banded. BPL is wide band noise that’s all over the place.
