In this paper the control of linear plants, where the sensor is connected to a linear controller/actuator via a network is addressed. Both, state and output feedback, are considered and results are derived for both continuous and discrete plants. A key idea is that knowledge of the plant dynamics is used to reduce the usage of the network. Necessary and sufficient conditions for stability are derived as simple eigenvalue tests of a well-structured test matrix, constructed in terms of the update time h, and the parameters of the plant and of its model. These tests are extended to include network delay as well. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.