Home network
| Common name | IEEE standard |
|---|---|
|
HomePlug HD-PLC |
1901 |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11a |
| 802.11b | |
| 802.11g | |
| 802.11n | |
| 802.11ac | |
| Common name | ITU-T recommendation |
| HomePNA 2.0 | G.9951–3 |
| HomePNA 3.1/HomeGrid | G.9954 |
| G.hn/HomeGrid | G.9960 (PHY) |
| G.hn/HomeGrid | G.9961 (DLL/MAC) |
| G.hn/HomeGrid | G.9962 (Management Plane) |
| G.hn-mimo | G.9963 |
| G.hn/HomeGrid | G.9964 (PSD Management) |
| G.hnta | G.9970 |
| G.cx | G.9972 |
A home network or home area network (HAN) is a type of computer network that facilitates communication among devices within the close vicinity of a home. Devices capable of participating in this network, for example, smart devices such as network printers and handheld mobile computers, often gain enhanced emergent capabilities through their ability to interact. These additional capabilities can be used to increase the quality of life inside the home in a variety of ways, such as automation of repetitious tasks, increased personal productivity, enhanced home security, and easier access to entertainment.
Establishing this kind of network is often necessary when there is need to distribute residential Internet access to all internet capable devices in the home. Due to the effect of IPv4 address exhaustion, most Internet service providers provide only a single WAN-facing IP address for each residential subscription. Therefore, most homes require a device capable of network address translation that can route packets between a single public address visible to the outside world and the multiple private addresses within the home network.
A home network usually relies on one or more of the following equipment to establish physical layer, data link layer, and network layer connectivity both internally amongst devices and externally with outside networks:
Home networks can use either wired or wireless technologies to connect endpoints. Wireless is the predominant option in homes due to the ease of installation, lack of unsightly cables, and network performance characteristics sufficient for residential activities.
One of the most common ways of creating a home network is by using wireless radio signal technology; the 802.11 network as certified by the IEEE. Most wireless-capable residential devices operate at a frequency of 2.4 GHz under 802.11b and 802.11g or 5 GHz under 802.11a. Some home networking devices operate in both radio-band signals and fall within the 802.11n or 802.11ac standards. Wi-Fi is a marketing and compliance certification for IEEE 802.11 technologies. The Wi-Fi Alliance has tested compliant products, and certifies them for interoperability.
...
Wikipedia