Understanding Broadband over Power Line explores all aspects of the emerging technology that enables electric utilities to provide support for high-speed data communications via their power infrastructure. This book examines the two methods used to connect consumers and businesses to the Internet through the utility infrastructure: the existing electrical wiring of a home or office; and a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point. Written in a practical style that can be understood by network engineers and non-technologists alike, this volume offers tutorials on electric utility infrastructure and home wiring, to ensure that all readers have a common base of knowledge. It reviews power line operations, analyzing how electricity is generated and delivered to consumers, and how the wiring inside buildings forms individual circuits. An appreciation for how technologies work allows for an understanding of how broadband over power line has the potential to provide ubiquitous communications that offer home users, network managers, and LAN administrators with another solution to meet their high-speed networking requirements.