Essential Guide to Home Networking Technologies, The

HOMERF

Two major factors are presenting a real opportunity for data networking within the home. The first is the explosive growth and usage of the Internet. The Internet has clearly revolutionized the delivery of information and entertainment to the home. The second factor is the emergence of sub-$1000 powerful home PCs. With these low-cost devices, the barrier to getting on the Internet and discovering the utility of the PC is low enough to reach the vast majority of middle-income households. However, consumers soon find that the PC/Internet combination, though very compelling, lacks some key attributes in terms of mobility and convenience of location compared with many of their traditional information and entertainment options—newspapers, maga ...