Powerline communication device with load characterization functionality

A method for operating a Power Line Communications (PLC) device having a processing module, a PLC interface, and a wireless interface, the method comprising:

• identifying at least one proximately located load device using the wireless interface;
• determining device characteristics of the at least one proximately located load device using the wireless interface using beamforming to direct wireless communications toward the proximately located load device;
• communicating with a remote PLC device via the PLC interface;
• and
• transmitting to the remote PLC device via the PLC interface the device characteristics of the at least one proximately located load device.

A method for operating a wireless device having a wireless interface and a user interface, the method comprising:

• receiving premises modeling input from a user via the user interface;
• based upon the modeling input, establishing a diagrammatic representation of a premises, the diagrammatic representation representing a plurality of areas and passages between the plurality of areas;
• for each area of the plurality of areas:
• directing the user, via the user input, to put the wireless device into the area;
• receiving input from the user via the user input to indicate that the wireless device is in the area;
• and
• measuring wireless reception quality based upon a wireless signal transmitted by a wireless access point for the area;
• and
• altering the diagrammatic representation to indicate wireless reception quality for each of the plurality of spaces.