Nearly 2 million households added wireless connectivity
between late 2001 and early 2003, due to the growing use of
laptops at home, falling prices of Wi-Fi(r) equipment and a
growing desire for mobile connectivity. These factors have
made wireless technology the driving force in the actual
adoption of home networking, according to Dallas-based
Parks Associates’ latest consumer research.
According to the research firm, Wi-Fi(r) solutions are now found in as many as one-fourth of all households that have a data network, and nearly 30 million U.S. households will employ data networks by the end of 2007.
“The popularity of wireless networks has provided a tremendous boost for home networking in general,” says Kurt Scherf, vice president of research. He notes that approximately 10 million U.S. households now employ data networks. “The rapid growth of laptop computers used inside and outside the home accounts in large part for the high numbers of wireless products purchased. In fact, it was among multiple-PC households with at least one laptop where penetration of home networks increased most rapidly in the past 18 months.”
Scherf says wireless and hybrid solutions (bridging Ethernet, powerline, and/or wireless solutions) will be the predominant networking media, as end users will want to connect both computer platforms and multimedia networking products. Wireless nodes will account for 40 percent of all devices connected on data networks by the end of 2007, according to Parks.
For more information on Parks Associates’ home networking research, call (972) 490-1113.
