An electronic device configured as a talker (130, 131) for transmitting a data stream to one or more listeners (140, 141) in a network communication system, the electronic device comprising: a processor configured to: begin communication of a data stream over a network without establishment of a reservation for the data stream communication; characterized in that the processor is further configured to: determine pre-reservation information for transmitting the data stream by accessing to information stored in a memory, the pre-reservation information comprising: a stream identifier and bandwidth allocation for the data stream and at least one destination address for at least one of said one or more listeners (140, 141) to receive the data stream; attain a link status for communicating with a peer node (150, 151, 152) in the network by communicating at least one auto-negotiation message with the peer node to attain the link status, and such that after the link status is attained, the data stream can be communicated over the peer node (150, 151, 152) in the network between the talker (130;131) and the at least one listener (140, 141), wherein a peer node is a network node in the network communication system with which another network node directly communicates without receipt or interception by another network node prior to receipt by the receiving node; and after the data stream communication begins, confirm the data stream communication using a reservation protocol by communicating a reservation message to the at least one listener (140, 141) for establishing a reservation for data stream communication; wherein the processor is in a ready state to communicate the data stream without establishment of the reservation in response to determination of the pre-reservation information and attainment of the link status. begin communication of a data stream over a network without establishment of a reservation for the data stream communication; characterized in that the processor is further configured to: determine pre-reservation information for transmitting the data stream by accessing to information stored in a memory, the pre-reservation information comprising: a stream identifier and bandwidth allocation for the data stream and at least one destination address for at least one of said one or more listeners (140, 141) to receive the data stream; attain a link status for communicating with a peer node (150, 151, 152) in the network by communicating at least one auto-negotiation message with the peer node to attain the link status, and such that after the link status is attained, the data stream can be communicated over the peer node (150, 151, 152) in the network between the talker (130;131) and the at least one listener (140, 141), wherein a peer node is a network node in the network communication system with which another network node directly communicates without receipt or interception by another network node prior to receipt by the receiving node; and after the data stream communication begins, confirm the data stream communication using a reservation protocol by communicating a reservation message to the at least one listener (140, 141) for establishing a reservation for data stream communication; determine pre-reservation information for transmitting the data stream by accessing to information stored in a memory, the pre-reservation information comprising: a stream identifier and bandwidth allocation for the data stream and at least one destination address for at least one of said one or more listeners (140, 141) to receive the data stream; attain a link status for communicating with a peer node (150, 151, 152) in the network by communicating at least one auto-negotiation message with the peer node to attain the link status, and such that after the link status is attained, the data stream can be communicated over the peer node (150, 151, 152) in the network between the talker (130;131) and the at least one listener (140, 141), wherein a peer node is a network node in the network communication system with which another network node directly communicates without receipt or interception by another network node prior to receipt by the receiving node; and after the data stream communication begins, confirm the data stream communication using a reservation protocol by communicating a reservation message to the at least one listener (140, 141) for establishing a reservation for data stream communication; wherein the processor is in a ready state to communicate the data stream without establishment of the reservation in response to determination of the pre-reservation information and attainment of the link status.