Home networking is the collection of elements that process, manage, transport, and store information, enabling the connection and integration of multiple computing, control, monitoring, and communication devices in the home. The rapid proliferation of personal computers (PCs) and the Internet in homes, advancements in telecommunications technology, and progress in the development of smart devices have increasingly emphasised the need for in home networking.
The connection technology could be wired, largely through twisted copper – pair or coaxial cables, power-lines and phone-lines. They could also be wireless. Wireless networks utilize radio waves and/or microwaves to maintain communication channels between computers. Wireless networking is a more modern alternative to wired, increasing mobility and eliminating unsightly wires.
Connection to peripherals utilise USB/USB 2. In terms of data transfer rates the latter is much faster at up to 480 megabytes a second.
Firewire is not USB, although it is very similar. It has a big following due to its fast transfer speeds and hot plug and play features. Firewire is one of the fastest peripheral standards ever developed. Transferring data at up to 400Mbps, Firewire delivers more than 30 times the bandwidth of the USB 1.1 peripheral standard. It's used for all the things that USB is used for and is especially well used for external hard drives and digital camcorders.
Various industry bodies are dedicated to the development of standards and specifications for home-networked devices. One such is the Home Phone Network Alliance (HomePNA) an organization dedicated to the development of standards and specifications for interoperable, home-networked devices that use existing twisted-pair phone wiring.
Another is the agreement on the components that will make up 802.11n, a new WLAN standard that promises both higher data rates and increased reliability, helping to extend the technology beyond the PC and into consumer electronics applications like Internet telephony, music streaming, gaming, and even photo viewing and in-home video transmission.
