Digging into Phoneline Networking and HomePNA 2.0

2wire PC Port

2wire is a brand that many people are not familiar with, however; if you have DSL service with a Cisco 6xx device or you use Qwest, you probably have 2wire phoneline filters since 2wire is a primary supplier of these. As the name would hint, they specialize in every form of phoneline networking, from PNA to DSL.

We have two products from 2wire for this roundup. First, is their PC Port, which is a HomePNA 2.0 USB interface. Like the D-Link DHN-120, this device is compact and lightweight. It is hot swappable and therefore very portable. Also, much like the DHN-120, it has dual RJ-11 jacks to allow a pass-through. While it is slightly smaller than the DHN-120, it does not feature the removable USB cable, which may be a benefit for those prone to losing cables, but also hampers your ability to slide it in a pocket.

With a fairly fixed cost of $69, these are somewhat more expensive than comparable PCI cards, but do offer the flexibility of the USB interface. The package does not include any software beyond the PC Port driver. An RJ-11 6-foot phone cord is included as well.