Multiple phone lines are expensive and taking turns to browse the Web is no fun. Networked computers make it easier to transfer files and share programs. You can also play multiplayer computer games, both with other family members and with others on the Internet, although some ISPs have acceptable use policies that limit this, so be sure to check your service agreement first. Regardless, home networking is on the rise. Experts expect the market to grow from 1.3 million U.S. households at the end of 2000 to more than 9.5 million households by end of 2003.
Wired networks require some type of physical cabling to interconnect devices.
Wireless networks are just that. Instead of cables, they use radio waves to send and receive signals. The following table summarizes some of the important differences between the four predominant home networking technologies options available today. These two networks often use different transmission systems, so some type of translation is required to get the information from one network to the other. Hardware gateways offload this task to a dedicated device that is always online.