Fun with Home Networking

According to Electronic House magazine -- Home networking sounds hard. And sometimes it is. But here's a dirty little secret: It doesn't have to be difficult -- if you don't feel up to doing it yourself, however, you can always hire someone to do it for you. Many retail outlets, even cable companies can get you set up -- for a fee, of course. And more and more custom electronics dealers now offer home networking services as well. That's because someday in the not-so-distant future, it will be common to tie your audio and video systems into one big home network that's accessible from many areas in your house. So why would you possibly want a home network? Here are our top reasons, absolutely none of which contain the phrase, "just because it's cool."

To share a high-speed Internet broadband connection among several computers
To share a printer among several computers in different locations in your home
To enjoy music files stored on your computer in your family room, media room or other areas of the house
To access files from your home office computer on your laptop on the patio
To check email from friends and family while watching TV or a movie
To download or view great recipes while whipping up a feast
To get more info from the Internet on that great product your just saw on TV
To enjoy your favorite Internet radio station anywhere in your home
To hear a new song and click to download it or the album
To keep an instantly accessible library of your favorite music, movies and TV shows