The new NeverWire 14 QX-201 — a Mac compatible plug and play home network device from Phonex Broadband Corp. — has been named one of the Products of the Year by Electronic House magazine .
As we reported on Aug. 2, the new HomePlug 1.0-compliant device uses “powerline carrier” technology to make use of the unused bandwidth in standard electrical wiring. With NeverWire 14, business or home users with multiple computers can use their existing power lines to create an instant 14MB Ethernet network that will allow them to share high-speed Internet access, peripheral devices such as printers, and play interactive network and Internet games.
No software drivers are involved, and the resulting network will support both Mac and Windows systems, Brad Warnick, Phonex spokesperson, told MacCentral. NeverWire works with Mac OS 8.6 and up (including Mac OS X) and supports both TCP/IP and AppleTalk.
The NeverWire 14 costs US$129 per node. Each NeverWire device consists of a modem-sized box with two connectors: a power plug and an RJ-45 Ethernet jack.
The solution also introduces instant 56 des security encryption. Customers put the security option in place at a touch of a button on the top of each NeverWire device. In addition, the NeverWire includes a button at the top of each device that flashes to provide an instant self-test confirmation that the network has successfully installed itself and that device-to-device communication is fully in place.
Electronic House Magazine’s award winners will be presented Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Sept. 28.