Home Networking for the Rest of Us
Wouldn't it be nice if there were a way to easily take control of all your electronic gear? A new wave of home networking technology allows you to do just that.
Do you remember when George Carlin was always going on about stuff? Yeah, stuff. Well George had a pretty good routine going, and he got quite a few laughs with it. But it's not as funny these days when all of us have more techno-stuff than ever before. There's digital technology in our pockets, in our cars, and in just about every room in the house. There are computers, TVs, satellites, DVDs, VCRs, stereos, personal digital assistants and that little voice in your Web-browsing microwave oven that tells you, "Your burrito is done." Then there's all the information and content inside all that stuff that you want to get from one place to another. What would help is if there was an easy way to connect all the stuff together and share it.
In this day and age, most everyone knows what a network is, but until now only the most dedicated technogeeks would ever consider putting one in their homes. All that has changed. A whole crop of consumer-level home networking systems is here. They promise to be easy to install, easy to operate and an easy way to connect all the PCs, TVs, video and audio a home could want in such a way they can be shared efficiently and affordably throughout the house.
What's the Problem?
Think about this: the typical home has more gadgets than ever before. More TVs, more computers, more stereos, more VCRs, more game machines, more remote controls--more of everything. Talk about stuff, there are already 15 million homes in the US that have two or more PCs. It's not over yet. By 2000 that number is expected to double. Then mix in all the new digital technologies, like digital satellite, DVD, high definition TV, Internet appliances, Palmtops and digital cameras. Don't even think about it. More than 47 percent of all U.S. households are going have Internet access gear by 2002, and 20 percent of those households will have multiple devices all needing the Net. "Mommy, tell him to get off the Web, I need to do my homework." Can you hear it now?
Do I Need a Home Net?
But wait you ask, aren't home networks just another layer of stuff? In a way, yes. But it's stuff that connects all your other stuff, makes it easier to use and accessible to more of your family at once. Home networking will connect and simplify.
Just as they have been in the workplace, networks in the home allow users to share everything. A single PC household means only one person in the family is getting Net access when he or she wants it. Remember those rising Internet use statistics? The online universe is a part of our lifestyles, and a home network can allow all family members simultaneous Net access. With a home network, two people can run two different browsers from the same computer and Internet account: one on a computer in one room and one on a TV in another.
In a home network environment not only do we share access but we share devices as well. All the computers in the home, for example, can use the same printer from wherever they are located to wherever it's located. If Fido can bring in the newspaper, maybe you can train him to bring you the printouts. Networks take us even further by facilitating content sharing. All that information, data, entertainment, edutainment and infotainment, flicks, shows, tapes and discs. Home networks allow all your viewable content to be on any screen in the house at any time.
Your Flicks are Downloads
Interesting things start to happen when your TV, VCR and DVD are all on the same network with your computer and its peripherals. Consider this: It's a slow night in your den. Not much is going on. Around 8:30, for no apparent reason, you decide you need to see Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh stir up the drama in Gone With the Wind. So you fire up your DVD, flip on your new disc and start watching. Now its 9:30 and you decide it would be better to continue watching this great flick on the big screen in the living room. Besides, stretching out on the couch seems like a really good idea. One problem though, and you've guessed it, there's no DVD player in the living room. Is this a problem?
Not with a home network. With a flick of the network remote you have routed the DVD playback signal to the wide screen set in the living room. Stretch back and relax. Life is good.
My how time flies. It's 10:30 now and Gone With the Wind is really getting interesting. The only trouble is you're getting sleepy. Not a problem, you route the DVD playback to the bedroom set. Off you trundle to your comfy bed to catch as much of the film's end as you can before your own big fade-out.
How about this scenario: It's a weekday evening after dinner. Mom's on the office PC working on the budget. Dad's on the Mac in the bedroom surfing Web sites and planning a vacation. Sis is in the living room watching a movie for English class. Little Bro' is in the den playing a game on the TV. Not atypical, except Dad's choosing the travel Web sites he's surfing based on budget numbers sent to his desktop from his wife in the next room. Little Bro' is playing a game on the TV from the CD-ROM in Mom's machine. The movie Sis is watching is playing on the four head, Hi-Fi VCR in the parents' room. Everyone's sharing the home's technology resources using a home network.
We Got Gear
Home networks are more than just a great concept, products are now on the shelves. With such a new concept it will come as no surprise that these networks come in all types and use several different standards. So let's take a look at a few products that illustrate the initial wave of consumer-level home network concepts. The basic division is into wired and wireless systems.
Peracom HomeConnex
With HomeConnex, Peracom (www.peracom.com) has come up with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) solution that's combined with coaxial cable, to connect computers to their home network solution. It's a very plug-and-play solution. Legacy machines, 486s or low speed Pentiums, will need a USB card in order to work with this system. Want to look at your PC on your TV, for that matter on any TV in the house? Got DVD? Got a VCR? Maybe a satellite receiver? Well, now they're all resources on your network. All pictures are viewable on all your screens. All devices can be controlled with a wireless remote and a software interface that appears on any TV screen on the network. HomeConnex puts the picture where you want it to be. Spin your DVD platters putting pics on every set in the joint.
The system transmits your video on a personal channel selected by you. The user, for instance you could make channel 65 the VCR channel or Channel 66 the DBS channel. With the system Menu and RF Mouse you have control of every PC and video device on your network. Just point and click to control it all. Since the mouse controls the PC as well, any program can be launched and controlled from any TV in the house.
Though each home will be networked differently, you can expect to pay $200 to $400 for a working network. HomeConnex is now available nationwide.
Philips Ambi
The wireless sector is a bit more complex. There are three primary wireless platforms emerging: digital, analog and RF.
The Philips Ambi (www.pc.be.philips.com/whatsnew/ambi.html) uses digital wireless transmission. It lets you run different software applications anywhere in your home simultaneously. This is how two people on the same computer with the same Internet connection can have two completely separate surfing sessions at the same time. Or a gaming session while Excel is running. Now your stuff is spinning.
No wires? How does it work? Ambi licenses Sharewave Digital Wireless Technology to connect a home network. It's all there--PC antenna, TV terminal, PCI card, along with the infrared keyboard and of course your TV. Now you can look at your desktop on your home theater or video projection system. Ambi gives you a big screen PC at a fraction of the cost. Ambi, too is now available nationwide.
With a full array of video and audio outputs, the device is about the size of a cable box, weighing a little more than a lunch box. Ambi can nestle just about anywhere you want to put it.
Panasonic MicroCast
But there's more to wireless solutions than just digital. Lets take another look.
Panasonic offers MicroCast, (www.panasonic.com) a three piece analog wireless system incorporating 5.7GHz RF technology, a very high performance RF frequency. MicroCast's first component, the PC transceiver, connects to your PC's graphics card. The transceiver allows you to capture full screen stills and full motion video at resolutions up to SVGA (800x600) as well as stereo audio from your sound card. It then transmits them to the second component, the MicroCast set-top A/V Receiver unit. This, in turn, hooks up to your TV.
The third component, the MicroCast Control Console gives you real-time wireless control of the PC, supports PS/2 mouse and keyboard interfaces, as well as analog joystick, game controllers or gamepads. What's your pleasure? E-mail? Internet? Games? Online services? DVD watching? Audio CD listening? Just about anything you can do at your PC you can do from your TV with MicroCast.
SWAP me a Network
RF networking is yet another approach to wireless networking for the home. SWAP (Shared Wireless Access Protocol) protocol based products from the HomeRF Working Group take this approach. This industry working group was formed to develop an open industry specification for wireless digital communication between PCS and consumer electronic devices anywhere in and around the home.
The SWAP specification provides a common interface supporting wireless voice and data networking in the home. Working Group Members include a veritable who's who of the technology world, including luminaries from Compaq, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel and others.
A SWAP wireless home network can share voice and data between PCs, peripherals, PC-enhanced cordless phones and much more. Access the Internet from anywhere in (and around) the house with a palmtop. Share your Internet connection between several computers, share files or modems or printers all over your home. Check out voice, FAX and e-mail from a cordless phone by the backyard pool. Ah, the home networking life.
Diamond HomeFree, X-10, FireWire and others
There are other existing networking technology standards for home use that will be part of the formula. X-10, for example, is a home automation protocol that uses installed AC wiring to send signals around the home to turn lights on and off, control thermostats, etc. X-10 is a great way to network a PC with typically "dumb" devices like lights and thermostats. An interface like HAL2000 by Home Automated Living (www.automatedliving.com) controls all your X-10 modules from a central location remembering macro commands and even responding to voice commands via telephone. With HAL2000, you can call your home, access your PC by telephone and issue a voice macro command like "Hot Date," which would turn the living room lights on low, turn on the CD player to some romantic mood music and fire up the hot tub.
Other home network protocols use telephone wire to send messages around the house, which is also known as "twisted pair." Diamond Multimedia's HomeFree phone line (www.diamondmm.com) connects a home's PCs using the existing phone lines. It's a fast, reliable, affordable ($99.95) solution to share computers, printers and Internet access. The Terk Home Network (www.terk.com) transmits video sources, including DBS and DVD, to TV sets anywhere in the house using existing telephone lines.
But that's not the end of the home networking story. Sun Microsystems recently introduced Jini. Jini technology gives the user control over a home network from a TV set-top box and TV-based interface.
There are other networking standards to be aware of, such as FireWire. FireWire, also known as IEEE 1394 or iLINK, is fast becoming a common way digital devices communicate with each other.
Is Home Networking For You?
If your techno-stuff is making your life complicated or if you have a need to share several home technology resources simultaneously, then you can probably use one. They share all types of devices, connections and content, and are becoming more inexpensive, easier to install and easier to use all the time.
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