3 ms·
Yeah, I think PLC is awesome, but it's also just a whole parallel technology stack that has to be maintained and supplied. This is not such a heavy burden becau
by sanderjd 3y ago
Yeah, I think PLC is awesome, but it's also just a whole parallel technology stack that has to be maintained and supplied. This is not such a heavy burden because it's mature technology, but it's not nothing. And while cellular and RF technologies in general are useful for many things, PLC is really only useful for this one kind of (lossy, high-latency, low-bandwidth) communication about electrical networks.
- maliker 3y agoYes, it would be great if there were reliable publicly accessible RF networks available. I work mostly with rural US utilities and the problems they see with cell networks are (1) coverage isn't great and (2) costs aren't competitive with PLC or even utility-owned RF mesh.
- sanderjd 3y agoYeah that makes sense. But my general point is that it often makes some sense to invest in a technology that is in the process of being deployed more widely, rather than a technology that is naturally limited in reach. Cell (and satellite) coverage is likely to broaden and move down the cost curve, PLC won't ever be used for anything besides this, and likely isn't going to see much innovation because of that relatively small target market.