Devolo, the largest Homeplug seller with 2.5million out of the total 12million sold, will give the Homeplug Alliance a big boost in the coming months by using Intellon chips only and dropping Intellon's competitor, DS2, altogether.

Netgear has also backtracked from using DS2-only chips in its high end consumer range by releasing a 200mbit/sec Homeplug AV device called the XAV101.

Intellon's dominance could make buying powerline brands that use Panasonic or DS2 chips a gamble, since each is incompatible with the next.

Devolo is demonstrating the next speed hike, 400mbit/sec Homeplug prototypes, at Cebit08. In reality, file transfer rates (TCP) of 180mbit/sec are achieved in good conditions. The plugs use a low frequency for the first 100mbit/sec (this frequency is compatible with older AV Homeplugs) and add a new, higher frequency for the remaining 80mbit/sec.

Backwards-compatibility is a move in the right direction because Homeplug AV (200mbit/sec) devices are not compatible with older 14 and 85mbit/sec plugs, which was a blow for early adopters.

Devolo says 400mbit/sec products will arrive in a year's time at the earliest.