Powerline technology is the great unknown wonder of the digital home. Powerline technology allows you to create a network using the existing mains electrical wiring in your home or office. Its more efficient than laying down metres of ethernet cable round the house and faster and more reliable than wi-fi. Heres our review of the Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ powerline starter kit, and also advice on what speed powerline adaptor you need.

If a room has a spare power socket you can simply plug in a small powerline adaptor and from there connect whatever device you have (laptop, PC, smart TV, Sky+ box, Tivo, printer, games console, etc) to your internet connection via ethernet. It makes fancy features such as catch-up TV as simple as channel hopping.

iPlayer downloads taking too long or breaking up over wi-fi? Connect your player or set-top box via ethernet powerline and its like plugging it straight into your router.

The real joy is the simplicity of the whole thing. A starter kit like the 130 Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ includes two HomePlug adaptors. You connect one via ethernet to your router and plug in to a nearby power socket. You take the other one to the room you require a fast internet connection in, and plug that into another power socket. You can then link that adaptor to your nearby device (TV, etc) by ethernet cable or wi-fi.

Bingo. Job done. Thats it.

You can buy additional compatible adaptors (around 85) and add one in every room if you want. Garden shed connected to the same power lines as your home? Get fast broadband speeds there, too.

The Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ adaptor features three ethernet LAN ports so you can connect TV, set-top box and games console, for example, via just the one unit. It works with Macs and Windows PCs.

Devolo gets extra points for including an integrated electrical socket in the adaptor so you can still use the host socket for other power connections. You could even connect a power strip to it.

The Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ comes with management and monitoring software on a CD but none of it is required to get going straight away. It's pretty much a case of take it out of the box and plug it in for immediate gratification.

Original post:
Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ Starter Kit review

Article posted: 6/6/2014 4:22 PM

Q. We are in the process of trying to sell our home and are concerned about the various improvements we have done over the years without obtaining building permits. For example, last year we hired a handyman to install a new furnace, before that we installed new kitchen cabinets, and seven years ago we removed the bathroom window so that we could install a new shower. Will these be an issue when we sell the home?

A. When you sell your home, you will need to disclose the lack of permits to the buyers. Some buyers may accept these conditions as-is. Others may insist that you obtain as-built permits as a condition of the sale. And some may be unwilling to buy a home that has had unpermitted work. One option is to obtain as-built permits before selling your home. This will enable you to eliminate issues that require disclosure. Here is how that approach would apply to the three issues that you listed.

Hiring an unlicensed person to install your furnace was not a good idea. There are too many ways to install a furnace incorrectly, and some of these could jeopardize the fire safety of your home or could allow combustion exhaust to vent into the building. Furnaces should always be installed by qualified professionals, and permits should be obtained so that the building inspector can verify proper installation.

Kitchen cabinets are usually not subject to permit requirements, unless the work involves alterations to the plumbing or electrical wiring.

Installation of a new shower definitely requires a permit because it involves plumbing work. Additionally, if the bathroom window was eliminated, a mechanical exhaust fan should have been installed to provide ventilation to the exterior.

A good way to approach this situation is to hire a home inspector to determine whether the work that was done is acceptable or if repairs and upgrades are warranted. The home inspection report can also be used to supplement your disclosure statement to the people who buy your home.

Q. In one of your columns, you advised that a drain pan be installed under a water heater, with a drainpipe to the exterior of the building. This was to prevent water damage inside the building, in the event of leakage. In our condo complex, all of the water heaters are installed inside the building, at a location where a drain pipe would have to extend upward to get to the exterior. What can we do in this situation to comply with your recommendation?

A. Ordinarily, the discharge pipe from a water heater relief valve is run horizontally or downhill, which enables drainage to the exterior. In your building, a mechanical drain pump will be needed to enable proper drainage. This is a simple device that can be placed in the drain pan that is under the water heater. Water in the drain pan will lift the float that activates the drain pump. A discharge hose from this pump can be routed to the exterior or to a drainpipe somewhere inside the building.

To write to Barry Stone, visit him on the web at http://www.housedetective.com, or write AMG, 1776 Jami Lee Court, Suite 218, San Luis Obispo, CA 94301.

Originally posted here:
Sellers worried about lack of permits

GigaFast launches brand new HomePlug AV2 (gigabit-class) MIMO PLC series and introduces a new high definition PLC-based home monitoring system

Press release [Friday 6 June 2014]

GigaFast Ethernet, an OEM/ODM manufacturer of HomePlug powerline (PLC) technology equipment, has launched a series of HomePlug AV2 MIMO PLC Ethernet Bridges during Computex. HomePlug PLC technology is an innovative solution that turns the electrical outlets into wired network connections by simply plugging a pair of these bridges into sockets without pulling any extra cables. No extra wires means saving time and money on installation cost and cable material cost. The addition of MIMO technology to PLC utilizes the third ground wire to create multiple paths for data communication, providing an increase in home coverage.

The launch of GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges is a major step forward in the next generation of multimedia networking. GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges provide better performance, higher quality networking over existing home wiring, and additional coverage compared to their predecessors. At the same time, HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges are completely interoperable with HomePlug AV, HomePlug Green PHY, and IEEE 1901 certified devices.

GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges is designed to future proof PLC deployment for tomorrow's high demand for reliable and fast network performance needed in next generation digital entertainment and broadband access. GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 Ethernet Bridges provides gigabit-class speed to every electrical outlet, making each outlet ideal for HDTV, IPTV, multi-room HD DVR, online gaming, HD/3D video, HD audio, smart grid utilities management, home monitoring, and other home networking applications demanding ultra-fast network speed. GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges can also stream multiple HD video and audio programs on the PLC network simultaneously and can be be connected anywhere throughout the home. Currently, GigaFast has 4 Homeplug AV2 Ethernet Bridges. The most notable one is the small AV2 Pass Through Bridge (PS959-EP65), which is the smallest and fastest bridge of its kind with a built-in noise filtering AC socket for another device needing power to be plugged into this socket without taking up another wall socket space. There will be many more GigaFast HomePlug AV2 MIMO devices being launched in the next couple of months.

Also showcasing at Computex is GigaFast's HomePlug HD AV Home Monitoring System: IP Camera with Night Vision (PC11). This home monitoring system is extremely easy to setup since this system is sending signal through existing home electrical wires, eliminating pulling long cables throughout the house. Users can monitor their home anytime from anywhere in the world with iOS/Android devices. Unlike most home monitoring systems, this system does not have website configuration or long serial numbers to enter. The entire setup takes only three easy steps: Simply plug in the camera, download the app for either iOS or Android devices, and scan the QR code for pairing. This system has a built-in microSD slot to save recorded videos and the recorded videos can be viewed anywhere with an iOS or Android device without any subscription fee. The camera has infrared night vision for little to no light environment and has email notification for motion detecting. This camera also has 2-way digital audio for listening from and speaking to the surrounding from the mobile device.

This camera system can be used as day to day home or small office security surveillance. Another usage for this camera system is for baby safety monitoring. Parents can monitor their baby sleeping inside the crib or monitor the nanny while the parents are away using their mobile devices.

GigaFast prides itself in designing and manufacturing the highest quality of HomePlug PLC products and being the first ones out with the newest PLC technology. That also goes the same when it comes to our casing designs. This camera system's casing is the smallest one of its kind on the market and the camera and the camera securing stand designs are unconventional to other home monitoring systems. It has a clean and streamline egg-shape design that is aesthetically pleasing when placed in different areas inside a home. The casing for the camera was inspired by the concept of an egg resting gently inside a nest. The egg nest functions as a camera stand that a securely hold the camera in place with the desired camera angle.

For more information on GigaFast PLC products, please visit http://www.gigafast.com or visit GigaFast's Computex booth at D0309a, Hall 1, 1F.

Read more:
GigaFast launches brand new HomePlug AV2 (gigabit-class) MIMO PLC series and introduces a new high definition PLC ...

Hey buddy, dont you know this is America?

If youre not sure, then hop in an American-made car and drive down to Brent Greers house in Bradenton, Florida.

The Bradenton Herald has the back story: Greer painted his family home into a gigantic American flag in response to the city filing nine code enforcement violations, including the condition of the houses old coat of paint. What was especially galling to Greer was that the violations came on the heels of an anonymous complaint. The city threatened to fine Greer $250 per day until the violations were addressed.

From the Herald:

There you go: Whats the First Amendment for, if not to take this nations enduring symbol of freedom and use it for spite?

Of course, since you have free speech, too, you could call Greer out for getting the flags canton (star field) wrong, or not adding all 13 stripes. He may be the most American American today, but theres always room for improvement.

Original post:
Angry Guy Paints Gigantic American Flag on Home to Defend His Right to Faulty Wiring, Trash

Belkin CEO Chet Pipkin stands next to a WeMo cube at the 2014 Collision Conference in Las Vegas. Donna Tam/CNET

For Belkin founder Chet Pipkin, the company that began in his parents' Hawthorne, Calif., garage wants to go back home.

After building Belkin into a consumer-electronics brand with more than 1,200 employees and a product line that includes everything from Wi-Fi routers and iPad keyboard cases to power adapters over the past 31 years, Pipkin has seen the future. And his vision has him looking back to his humble garage roots as inspiration for the company's next big push: the smart home.

Pipkin, an easy-going, 53-year-old Southern California resident, has already wired his home. It tells the father of seven when his kids leave the house based on their Wi-Fi signal, lets his wife boil water for tea without getting out of bed in the morning, and tracks the use of all kinds of electronics, from an Xbox to lighting fixtures, through a smartphone app.

"I just love it," he said about the ability to open and close his garage door even when he's not home. "If there's a delivery person, I can see them through the camera and I can talk to them. I can open the garage door to let them in and then close the garage door after."

That's the kind of new thinking behind Belkin's home automation line WeMo, which is the company's biggest effort yet to tap into the rapidly burgeoning smart-home market. ABI Research estimates that the connected home market was worth $9.2 billion in 2013, and will grow to $15.1 billion in five years.

That market of opportunity has drawn tech titans including Google, which ponied up $3.2 billion for smart home thermometer maker Nest in January, and Apple, which earlier this week unveiled its HomeKit smart home platform baked into its iOS 8 mobile operating system for the iPhone and iPad.

C. West McDonald / CNET

Belkin already sells switches and motion sensors -- small devices that let people transform an appliance into a smart device -- and a high-definition, Wi-Fi-connected camera for monitoring and communicating. But new products are in the works. In January, the company showed off LED lights, a smart slow cooker and a do-it-yourself maker kit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Last month, Belkin demonstrated WeMo Echo Technology hardware for monitoring water and electricity usage homes.

Belkin expects to make the LED lightbulbs available in September, while the CrockPot and Maker may go on sale as early as August. The water and electricity products, though, may take another year or two.

Link:
Belkin goes all in on the home of the future

Answer: Employer policy and personal choice prevent me from becoming involved in readers' legal disputes.

But I can tell you many lenders and insurance companies do not look kindly on knob-and-tube, the first generation of electrical wiring installed in houses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Such wiring, and indoor plumbing, for that matter, was typically installed on the walls of existing homes. Later, and in new construction, it was moved behind the walls.

I once was told that knob-and-tube was not a problem if it hadn't been chewed by rodents, but it is inadequate to meet today's needs, is more likely not to have been maintained, and does not meet today's code.

Wiring from 1880 to 1930. That's 84 to 134 years old.

Let's look at the sellers' disclosure law in Pennsylvania. The standard form covers the structure, such as roof, basement, foundation, and walls.

It asks the seller to let buyers know whether the house has been treated for termites or has had water or sewage problems; if the house has been remodeled, and whether the plumbing, electrical, heating, and air-conditioning systems are in good, working order.

If there are hazards or environmental con-

taminants, the seller must disclose these, as well.

How much the seller really knows depends on his or her level of expertise, according to the law. My agent held me to the strictest disclosure standards when I sold my last house in 2001. But most sellers aren't me.

View original post here:
Your Place: Ask an electrician about that dated wiring

Juan Loy was sitting in his living room between Gilmer and Big Sandy when he first smelled the smoke.

It was a Thursday in early May, about a month before the 17-year-old Gladewater High School senior was set to graduate, but in that moment, his only thoughts were getting his family out of the house and calling for help.

It was on a Thursday. I missed (school) that day and the next day to start cleaning up and get as much as we could out as soon as we could. Then all weekend I spent cleaning up, Juan said.

Faulty wiring in the attic was blamed for the fire, which worked its way across much of the home before firefighters could extinguish the blaze. What the flames didnt get became waterlogged.

Juan was at home with his father, mother, brothers daughter, sister and sisters family at the time of the blaze.

Juans mother had the presence of mind to grab his cap, gown and graduation invitations before evacuating the home.

It means a lot more now because I can still graduate, Juan said.

Juan, a Gladewater ISD every-man, has played sports, participates in the band and finished seventh in his class.

It took him the first several years of high school, but Juan finally left the basketball and track teams and focused on tennis, while playing brass instruments for the band.

A lifelong Bear, Juan began with the district as a student at Broadway Elementary School.

Read the original:
Gladewater grad overcomes after home catches fire

The average fixed line home broadband download speed for the largest eight ISPs in the United Kingdom held stable at 21.7Mbps (up from 21.32Mbps in April 2014) and Internet uploads were similarly unchanged at 5.04Mbps. As usual Virgin Media and BT remain the fastest national providers. A new chart that tracks the monthly changes has also been added.

The following summary is based on data gathered using Ooklas universal Speedtest.net service and we then calculate the overall average speeds from only the major national UK ISPs listed below rather than Ooklas overall total (i.e. Ooklas overall figures would be too skewed by business ISPs, niche providers and mobile operators).

Generally speaking May has been a fairly quiet month with no major changes to report; although Zen Internet has snuck into the top 3 after just about managing to unseat PlusNet. Otherwise Virgin continues to be the fastest national broadband ISP for download speeds on 49.36Mbps, with BT coming a distant second at 25.52Mbps (largely due to the high number of slower ADSL2+ users).

Top 8 Big UK ISPs Average Download Speed (Megabits per second) 1. Virgin Media 49.26Mbps 2. BT 25.52Mbps 3. Zen Internet 22.58Mbps 4. PlusNet 21.30Mbps 5. Eclipse Internet 14.99Mbps 6. Sky Broadband 13.46Mbps 7. TalkTalk 13.44Mbps 8. EE 13.05Mbps

Top 8 Big UK ISPs Average Upload Speed 1. BT 7.58Mbps 2. Zen Internet 6.80Mbps 3. PlusNet 6.50Mbps 4. Virgin Media 5.56Mbps 5. Eclipse Internet 4.30Mbps 6. Sky Broadband 3.97Mbps 7. EE (Orange) 3.19Mbps 8. TalkTalk 2.44Mbps

Some readers have also requested that ISPreview.co.uk keep track of individual ISP performance and in response weve included a semi-interactive chart at the bottom that will be used to keep tabs on the listed ISPs, albeit only in terms of downstream performance (uploads change at a far slower rate).

At this stage weve only been doing it since March 2014 and so you wont notice much movement, although the start of Virgin Medias latest double speed upgrade is clearly evident. Take note that the chart will only display if your web browser has enabled JavaScript (most do this by default) and mobile browsers may also need to use Desktop mode to see it.

As usual its important to take average speeds like these with a big pinch of salt. Every home is different and performance can be affected by all sorts of issues, many of which are beyond the ISPs ability to control (e.g. slow wifi or poor home wiring), thus we do not consider the above data to be a reliable barometer for individual users but it can help to highlight general changes in the market.

On top of that its known that Ooklas data attempts to reflect the fastest sustainable throughput performance by dropping a sizeable chunk of the slowest tests and a smaller slice of the fastest results for each ISP, which has its merits but also skews the results a bit. Similarly speedtesting services are rarely perfect, although this is usually more of an issue for ultrafast connections of 100Mbps+ (uncommon).

Read more:
The UK Top 8 Fastest Major Home Broadband ISPs for May 2014

By Jason Gibbs

jgibbs@lcsun-news.com @fjgwriter on Twitter

LAS CRUCES >> It's about more than pounding nails and pulling electrical wire, although there was plenty of both going on at the Las Cruces Home Builders Association's Anniversary House Friday.

The work is a labor of love intended to give back to the Southern New Mexico community.

Construction on the philanthropical project, underway at 3677 Santa Sabina Ave. in the Metro Verde South development on the East Mesa, is on target for a July finish, said LCHBA Executive Officer Steve Chavira. Dubbed the Anniversary House, the home is being constructed to mark the 55th anniversary of the association. John Moscato of Sierra Note Land Holding along with partners Royal Jones and Dean Rigg sold the lot to LCHBA for a significantly discounted price. Kimball Hakes, president of Hakes Brothers Brothers builders approached Moscato to begin the project.

Contractors and LCHBA members are donating or deeply discounting much of the necessary time, labor and material to bring the home's construction cost in as low as possible.

The goal? Have a market-ready home for sale in August, with proceeds going to Las Cruces charities.

And, it looks like that goal is in sight.

A student crew of electrical engineers from the Independent Electrical Contractors group spent Friday installing electrical wiring throughout the house.

"The build-out is gong very well," Chavira said Friday. "It's going up fast and it's a good-quality home being built."

View original post here:
LCHBA Anniversary Home on schedule for August sale

SAN ANTONIO A San Antonio boarding home operator has ignored repeated requests by the city to clean up her facility, which for the past year has been in violation of a host of health and safety codes, according to a lawsuit filed by San Antonio.

The home at 1123 Pasadena has been the site of accumulated trash, unsanitary living conditions, faulty wiring, unsafe food preparation, and a rat and insect infestation, the city alleges.

A judge could order the closure of the home operated by Doreen Silva, who also runs two other boarding homes in San Antonio, both of which are also in violation of codes, according to the city.

Silva has also failed, according to the city, to install a sprinkler system, part of an ordinance passed two years ago to make boarding homes safer for residents, most of whom are people with mental or physical disabilities. Silva was not available for comment.

Since the ordinance passed, 28 homes have voluntarily closed rather than comply with the new law. The city has shut down another six, stating they posed immediate danger to residents.

Read more about the controversy over boarding homes at ExpressNews.com or in Saturday's edition of the Express-News.

mstoeltje@express-news.net

Read the original here:
City seeks to close boarding home