LANs find a new home

This week I’d like to point you to a new magazine from the folks at Network World that zeroes in on the area of home networking.

I’ve been a big fan of extending Network World’s coverage to include home networking. In writing this newsletter it’s plain as day that LAN technology is going into homes. A couple of factors came together at once to make LANs a part of home technology - the widespread acceptance of high-speed Internet access options like DSL and cable modems, and the standardization of wireless LAN technology.

Put them together and you have the “killer app” of allowing home users to extend Internet access to anyplace in their homes without running wires. The next phase is already under way - to take the LAN technology that’s already being accepted in homes and extend it to other electronic devices, such as TVs and stereos. And that’s just the beginning.

Network World has traditionally had an enterprise focus, and that helped us to produce a special magazine called Network Life to address the growing area of home networking with the depth of an IT person’s perspective.

The latest issue is available as an “e-zine,” which is just a ‘Netty way of saying it’s a PDF that you can download to, say, a laptop and read wherever you go. This issue gives a sneak peek at the home network of the future, reviews Motorola’s video phone, gives LAN party planning tips and takes a trip into retro gaming.

Visit Network Life Editor Keith Shaw’s editorial and download the PDF from there. And let us know what you think.

Read more about lans & wans in Network World's LANs & WANs section.

Jeff Caruso is site editor at Network World.