Definition: HomePNA

(HOME Phoneline Networking Alliance) An industry alliance that standardized running Ethernet over existing telephone lines using RJ-11 wall jacks as connecting points. Computers connect to the wall jacks with HomePNA (HPNA) adapters via USB or an 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. 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
 HomePNA 3.1  2007  (Ethernet over Coax)