HomePNA - technical definition

(HOME Phoneline Networking Alliance) A phoneline network that is designed to run Ethernet over existing telephone lines and use RJ-11 wall jacks as connecting points. Computers connect to the wall jacks with HomePNA (HPNA) adapters via USB, PC Card or internal PCI card. Network devices plug into an HPNA-Ethernet bridge unless they already have a HomePNA port built in.

HomePNA allows devices to be up to 1,000 feet apart and supports a household area of up to 10,000 square feet. Version 3.0, introduced in 2003, offers quality of service (QoS) for audio and video streaming. For more information, visit the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance at www.homepna.org. Following are HPNA versions and speeds. See also HomePlug.

                   Year
     Version       Intro.  Speed

     HomePNA 1.0   1998      1 Mbps
     HomePNA 2.0   1999     10 Mbps
     HomePNA 3.0   2003    128 Mbps + QoS