Articles

HomePlug® Powerline Alliance Announces Support for IEEE P1905 Convergent Digital Home Network Standard – HomePlug Powerline Alliance

IEEE P1905 Standard page

My Comments

Realities

More home networks implementing two or more media backbones

As the typical home network evolves, there will be a time when another interface type will be implemented in that network.

There are two examples of this common situation. One is where a person who has run an Ethernet network from the network-Internet edge to their computer decides to “go wireless” with their laptop computers and upgrades to a wireless router yet maintains the Ethernet connection for desktop computers. Another example that is increasingly common in Europe and will become so with the prevalence of IP-delivered TV would be a household that has a Wi-Fi network for the laptop but implements a HomePlug powerline network to serve the set-top box or IP-enabled TV in the lounge.

Infact I have advocated these kinds of network setups in this site in order to encourage a flexible home or small-business network that suits all situations that are thrown at it. This includes handling radio-difficult environments like double-brick walls or foil-lined insulation that can exist in many houses.

Network endpoint devices with multiple network interfaces

An increasing number of network-endpoint devices like computers, printers and Internet media devices are being required to support multiple types of network interfaces. This may be provided out of the box; or the user may have to install a hardware network adaptor for a particular network interface in to the device even though the device has an integrated network adaptor for another interface.

A very common example that I have seen for myself is laptop users switching between a wired Ethernet connection and a Wi-Fi wireless connection. Typically the laptop user who is getting used to the “New Computing Environment” and what it offers will plug their computer into the router’s Ethernet socket while they work at their desk; then disconnect from the Ethernet socket and “go wireless” when they want to use the laptop in other parts of the house. This typically can cause problems due to network storms or switchover problems; and often requires the user to disable or enable Wi-Fi on the laptop as they change connections.

Similarly, most of the network-enabled multifunction printers that I have reviewed at HomeNetworking01.info are equipped with an Ethernet socket as well as an integrated WPA2-secured Wi-Fi interface. This is becoming very common with most network-enabled media players, especially “smart TVs” and BD-Live Blu-Ray players.

Setup and management difficulties with these networks

These networks can yield their fair share of difficulties as users have to set up each network segment or device for secure reliable operation. This can include initial provisioning needs that a media type has like SSID and WPA-PSK security keys for Wi-Fi segments to management of segment-specific problems like Wi-Fi reception issues.

It will become more difficult as advanced networking requirements such as quality-of-service, synchronous media streaming, multiple logical networks and robust security are required out of these small heterogenous networks.

In the case of the devices, it will include making sure that the device works with the best network interface available even if both interfaces are physically connected. The most common example of this is making sure that the Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or printer works on a wired link if connected to the network via that link and works with the Wi-Fi link in other cases without the need for a manual switchover procedure.

What is this new standard intending to provide

You may think that there are standards out there to help with managing a computer network but most of these standards work to a particular network media type. As well, a lot of them require management by an IT team, something which few households or small businesses can have on hand all the time.

One major benefit is simplified media-level control across different media types on the same network. This isn’t achieved through the use of higher-level configuration routines managed by IP or application-level protocols like SNMP or UPnP, but these protocols can be adapted for this standard.

There will also be a focus on end-to-end performance such as allowing a device to choose the network interface that provides best throughput and quality-of-service. It can also allow “end-to-end” quality-of-service to be achieved from the network-Internet “edge” to the end device for IP telephony, multimedia streaming or Internet gaming.

Similarly, there is the ability to manage the media-level network security and energy-management needs that are required for the network in an easier form. This includes coordinating device wakeup across different media types so that a device can exist in an energy-saving quiescent mode yet “come to” when someone else on the network need it no matter how it is connected.

This standard recognises the reality that no one network type suits all needs, different horses for different courses.

Here, a typical setup may use Cat5 Ethernet as a high-speed backbone between floors or across the house, a HomePlug AV segment as a high-reliability wired “no-new-wires” setup for temporary applications and a Wi-Fi wireless segment that is primarily for portable devices.

The main focus that will be achieved is that bridge or switch devices that work across the multiple media types can perform these jobs more efficiently without needing to use higher-level protocols to achieve this goal; and be assured that the requirements for the network data are met as the data travels these devices.

Unanswered questions

Support for and management of VLAN networks

An unanswered question about this standard is whether it can support a VLAN network. This is a network that hosts multiple logical networks across the same physical infrastructure. It would be relevant in the small network space for “guest / hotspot networks” and IPTV setups where end-to-end content protection is required.

Features that may be considered of importance in this regard include replicating VLAN setups across the network as infrastructure devices are added to the network. An example of this could b to use an extension access point to “build out” a Wi-Fi network yet maintain the “guest network” and the “private network” as separate entities with separate SSIDs.

It also includes multi-tenancy-building environments where there is common “LAN” network infrastructure like cable runs that exist to interlink units (apartments, shops, offices, etc) or multi-SSID access points installed to service common areas (common gardens, swimming pools, food courts, etc). Here, it would be required to establish a VLAN interlink between two or more premises under the control of the same entity or establish a link to a common multi-SSID access point with the same SSID and security parameters as your main access point.

Wi-Fi devices and their operating mode

Another questiom that may affect the management of Wi-Fi devices is what kind of operating mode the device should be in. This is whether it is a client device or an access point; or to implement “direct link” or WDS or newer-standard network repeater functionality.

This would cater for an increasing number of “multi-function” access points which was a trend brought about by newer firmware versions for the Linksys WAP54G wireless access point. Here, the access point could be set up to be on the end of a direct wireless link, or be a client bridge for an existing Wi-Fi segment, a Wi-Fi repeater as well as being an access point.

This standard could provide support for a wireless endpoint such as a "multi-function” access point or the Wi-Fi functionality in a printer or other device to work as a client device or as an access point. It could then allow for these devices to quickly serve as infill access points when they are connected to a wired backbone after working on the Wi-Fi network.

Conclusion

At least the IEEE P1905 standard will make some effort towards making the establishment, management and development of the typical heterogenous small network become an easier talsk that is less painful.

Article

DECT-Telefon mit Android: Archos 35 Smart Home Phone – COMPUTER BILD (Germany – German language)

My Comments

I have previously covered various attempts by landline-telephony carriers and electronics manufacturers to restore faith in the classic telephone service. This is more so as younger people are thinking more of the mobile phone as their main telephone device and ditching the classic landline telephone.

The two main examples of this was a DECT cordless telephone handset which worked on the Android operating system but looked like an early-generation car phone as well as the Telstra T-Hub with a separate screen which linked to the home Wi-Fi network.

Now Archos have taken this further with a DECT cordless telephone that is styled like the typical smartphone. As well, they have run this phone on the Android platform with the ability to download software to the phone through the Wi-Fi network. They even have run TuneIn Radio, which is an Internet-radio client, on this phone so it can offer the same Internet-radio experience as the T-Hub’s Internet-radio client.

Archos have emphasised the DECT cordless-phone setup because most of the Internet-gateway devices that are part of a fully-featured “triple-play” service in Europe, especially the Germanic countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), can work as VoIP base stations for these handsets. This allows for centralised management of the handsets and for the assured quality-of-service that DECT offers.

It will be interesting to know who else will try to run with a “smart household phone” system to keep the classic home-based voice telephone service alive and relevant in the mobile world.

Articles

What You Need To Know About IPv6 – PCWorld

My Comments

There has been a lot of talk about IPv6 as becoming the next major change for the Internet ecosystem.

This talk increased since late 2010 with the fact that the Internet is running out of globally-assignable IPv4 addresses, which are used to identify Internet services to other endpoints on the public Internet. There would then be the requirement to frequently reuse these addresses which can lead to a confused Internet setup.

It has also been augmented by the “World IPv6 Day” taking place on June 8 2011 where most of the popular sites had to run a dual IPv4/IPv6 setup to test whether IPv6 is ready for prime time. This test passed with flying colours for all of these sites and some of them still run with IPv6 compatibility in one form or another,

It is a technology that will be put on the map more so with the arrival of next-generation broadband setups, either as a way of opening up more IP addresses or as a statement to say the these services are all about “next generation Internet”,

What does IPv6 offer?

Greater number of IP addresses

There is a greater number of unique IP addresses available in the IPv6 Internet than there would be for the current-technology IPv4 Internet.

This requires the use of long address strings that may be hard to understand. For example, a typical IPv4 Internet address would be something like 211.234.5.1 whereas the IPv6 Internet address would be something like 2001:0530:ac12:2333:03aa:12f3:fe21:53f2 . This is why some shorthands have been introduced like the one mentioned in the next paragraph.

If an address had four zeros in it like 0000, the shorthand for this would be two colons as in fe80::ac12:2333:03aa:12f3:fe21:53f2 being equivalent to fe80:0000:ac12:2333:03aa:12f3:fe21:53f2 . It is worth noting that any IPv6 address that starts with fe80:: (fe80:0000: in longhand) is a stateless link-local address that would be “worked out” between network devices unless there is an IPv6 router that has a DHCPv6 server handing out the addresses.

Different network addressing setup

In the current IPv4 world, an ISP would allocate each customer’s network an outside IP address like 211.234.5.1 with a netmask of 255.255.255.0 . All devices within the network would be allocated a site-local IP address and it would be the job of the router to map through using Network Address Translation a “port number” to an inside device’s address. This has often caused problems for network setup whenever a device had to receive information from the Internet, an activity that is becoming more common with applications like Internet gaming and IP telephony.

An ISP can now issue a network prefix to a subscriber like this: 2001:0530:ac12:2333 and the DHCP server in an IPv6 router can allocate a unique “full” IPv6 address for each of the network devices. There isn’t even the need for netmasks anymore because a network can be singled out by the use of the IPv6 prefixes.

It will also therefore provide for proper direct access to each unique node on an IPv6 network.

Therefore, you will end up with more unique IP addresses for your home or small-business network than the whole of the current-generation IPv4 Internet.

Different take on network security

The fact that each network device in an IPv6 network can be globally accessible requires a rethink of the role that the network-Internet “edge” device provides.

The role of these devices in a small IPv6 network will typically be to work as a security firewall for the logical network that is behind it. It will also be asked to work as a bridge between the IPv4 network, the IPv6 network and Internet services that work purely with IPv4 and IPv6. It will be augmented with Improved designed-in security with IPSec secure-network support.

What is the reality with IPv6

Most of us may think that our small networks in our homes, shops and small offices won’t touch IPv6. But there is a strong likelihood that it will be part of next-generation broadband Internet sometime in the near future.

Compatibility setups

The dual-stack network

The fact is that some of the devices you use for the Internet may be infact ready to work with the IPv6 Internet. They will typically work with the IPv6 Internet in a “dual-stack” form where they can support IPv6 or IPv4 network traffic over the same interface. This means that each device will be known on the network via an IPv4 address and an IPv6 address. It also leads to the fact that the network will work as though it is two different networks – an IPv4 network and an iPv6 network with the same physical infrastructure.

If you establish a network with two or more dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 devices with the IPv6 function enabled, you will end up with a dual-stack network with each device being known by a stateless IPv6 address. This is even though the network has a router that can only support IPv4 network setups and hand out IPv4 IP addresses from its DHCP server.

Inter-protocol tunnelling

As well, most routers that support IPv6 will implement tunnel setups that interlink data between regular IPv4 host systems and IPv6 host systems both within and outside the network. These are typically in the form of ISATAP or 6to4 protocols which manage this process automatically. Here, the routers will set up VPN-like tunnels between IPv4 networks over the IPv6 networks to link the resources that are behind these networks.

Who’s ready and who isn’t

Standard computers, tablets and smartphones

The regular computer and the smartphone will be ready for IPv6. This has been achieved with inherent operating-system support in the newer versions of the popular desktop and smartphone operating systems.

For example, Windows has inherent support from Vista onwards and has a “kludged-in” support arrangement for Windows XP. Macintosh users will have IPv6 support from at least MacOS X Snow Leopard onwards.

The two popular smartphone platforms, iOS (iPhone) and Android have inherent support in their current versions. This is because some of the mobile carriers run IPv6 networks for their wireless-broadband services.

Network-enabled equipment

Most small-business printers that are released by the big names over the past two years are IPv6 ready.This doesn’t hold true for consumer network printers or most consumer network media hardware for that matter. It also holds true for network-capable consumer electronics like the Internet radios that I have reviewed.

A selection of high-end consumer and small-business routers do support IPv6 in some way; usually in a dual-stack method  and/or providing IPv6/IPv4 routing functionality according to one or more common algorithms like 6to4 or ISATAP. It is still worth checking with your router vendor whether there will be IPv6-capable firmware available for your existing equipment or equipment that you plan to buy.

What I will be doing at HomeNetworking01.info is that when I review network-enabled equipment and find that it has IPv6 capability, I will identify it as being IPv6-ready in its connectivity list. This will allow users to know that the equipment they plan to buy or specify can he ready to work in the IPv6 age.

Internet services

At the moment, nearly all residential and small-business Internet services aren’t running IPv6-compliant Internet services. They may run an IPv6 network as part of their backbone or own-office infrastructure bot won’t enable IPv6 with their customer-facing services or the network links that reach their customers.

This situation may change with ISPs that are part of a next-generation broadband service or who provide “geek-friendly” Internet service with the latest and the greatest technology. But I would suspect that most ISPs will provide a dual-stack Internet service when they get around to providing the customer-facing IPv6 service.

Access to and hosting the Web

If you do set up a Web page with a service provider, you may have a different IPv6-readiness issue. Most Web hosts will run IPv6 on their backbone networks and may run IPv6 as a beta-testing service which isn’t all that “polished”; but they won’t have fully-functional IPv6 for their customer-facing Web sites or the sites that they host. This is because, at the moment,  most systems and networks won’t cope properly with “dual-stack” (IPv4 / IPv6) Web-host setups because of the primary reliance on IPv4 infrastructure.

After “World IPv6 Day”, most of the big sites like Google and Facebook had found they could operate as a dual-stack arrangement without "keeling over” or having negative impact on the end-user experience. This is even though most traffic that visits these sites originates from IPv4 networks. Therefore some of the major sites are still running dual-stack or maintaining their test IPv6 site as a separate subdomain.

What will this lead to

It may lead to the ability for many devices to be globally addressed in a small network and this may be of importance if these devices are to be directly accessible from the Internet. This will be of importance with gaming and remote-access applications, and may encompass the ability to have networks addressable through a premises-unique easy-to-remember subdomain.

It could also allow for multi-premises setups to be easier to establish and maintain due to the fact that a logical network can be set up to cover the different locations. This is as long as they work on one service account. It may not hold true of portable devices that are typically serviced by different providers’ accounts.

It may yield some controversies concerning individuals’ privacy and security because of the ability to provide globally-unique addressability for each device. This is along with the arrival of cost-effective network-based monitoring setups that could track every individuals’ movements.

Conclusion

This article is informing you about what is to be expected out of the IPv6 technology that is being highly talked about through this year. It also may be of relevance as we move towards households and small businesses being served by next-generation broadband services such as the many fibre-optic networks.