Wi-Fi rules wireless consumer world

With the number of connected consumer electronics devices growing continuously, it is becoming more challenging to get the network to the devices. Home network technologies such as coax and powerline are making inroads, but a report from ABI Research indicates that wireless connections will remain the dominant technology.

Connected CE devices are an important part of the emerging and quickly growing home media network. Consumers are becoming more comfortable with the idea of delivering A/V content throughout the home, on a variety of devices. These devices include HDTVs, video game consoles, networked music receivers, and more. However, as these components are frequently scattered around the home, away from the router, wired connections are often not practical. As a result, Wi-Fi connections in CE devices will rise from 113 million in 2008 to more than 285 million by 2012.

"While many CE devices initially adopted Ethernet connections due to cost and potential wireless connectivity issues, Wi-Fi has become the dominant LAN connection type in several device categories," says Jason Blackwel, digital home practice director at ABI. "Now we're seeing Wi-Fi making its way more aggressively into components including DTVs."

As bandwidth-intensive applications such as video streaming have become more commonplace, Wi-Fi has evolved with higher speed technologies such as 802.11n. Ethernet will remain a strong second place technology, as it is often integrated in the silicon and does not add a significant amount to the bill of materials costs. Over time, powerline, coax, and high-speed wireless connections will show growth in adoption, especially among service providers.