When people ask me what home network gear they should buy, I always say, "Wait a while, the really cool stuff is just around the corner." But now that some of the really cool stuff is finally here, that answer's just not flying.

But to me, a router's not just a router. It's a market vision expressed in design, chipsets, specifications and interfaces. In packaging, documentation and price.

Tech Spy gives me the chance to figure out what's really going on - and what it means to you and yours. Clues to where this market is headed are evident in all sorts of little choices vendors and industry leaders make along the way.

For instance, Sonos is developing a whole-home audio system that uses wireless mesh network technology. Very cool, but what got me most excited? The four-port switch built into the controller box. What do I need four ports for? I'll figure that out later. Sonos was thinking smart.

For the most part, consumer electronics companies don't think about ports or connecting things, so they're slow to build Wi-Fi radios and Ethernet ports into their TVs and stereos. For the most part, we're seeing Microsoft's Media PCs, media adapters and media extenders: gear that cobbles together consumer electronics and PC equipment.

But early stuff is kludgy; media extenders, whose job is simply to "extend" media streaming from your Media PC to a second TV via 802.11g, are huge. They need to be alarm-clock-sized, or better, integrated into the TV.