The Future of Home Networking

Home networking is really just beginning to hit its stride. Many of the homes being built today include Cat 5 wiring as part of the basic infrastructure. Highly specialized networking products that are proprietary in nature (like IBM's HomeDirector) are also available options. A lot of companies are focusing significant resources on developing new networking technology. HomePlug is working on increasing the data rate of power-line networking. HomeRF is working on a SWAP version 2 specification that will greatly increase the speed of wireless networking. Another wireless standard, HiperLAN2, is based on the upcoming IEEE 802.11a specification and promises speeds up to 54 Mbps in the 5-GHz range! One thing is for sure, home networks will continue to improve and grow.