HomeRF 2.0 wireless network technology overview

This year Proxim and other companies are putting some heavy support behind an improved version of HomeRF (version 2.0) that will likely carve itself a healthy niche in the home networking market.  Like its predecessor, HomeRF 2.0 has been engineered with the home user in mind so setup and use is much easier than other wireless solutions like 802.11b.

As a networking standard, HomeRF 2.0 strives to be easy to use without compromising a robust feature set. Use of a HomeRF 2.0 network will be a transparent function of your computing environment. The HomeRF 2.0 stanadard includes support for advanced networking features like security, interference dodging and quality of service – all transparent to the end user.

HomeRF 2.0 is not just a networking standard. With HomeRF 2.0, a wireless home network can also become a wireless multi-media platform. HomeRF 2.0 includes support for up to 4 voice wireless phone handsets that operate just like your standard phone line with Caller ID and all the other features you are used too. As the technology rolls out this year, we should see some exciting developments in this area.

Expect to see the first HomeRF 2.0 devices hit the shelves some time in Q3 2001.

HomeRF 1.0 ran at 1.6Mbps. That speed was fine for Internet sharing but copying large files like MP3’s was a tedious job. HomeRF 2.0 increases the bandwidth to 10Mbps - the same speed as standard wired Ethernet. To understand network speeds click here .

HomeRF 2.0’s security model is relatively transparent to the end user and very secure. HomeRF 2.0 uses a technology called frequency hopping. This keeps the ‘data channel’ shifting from one frequency to another many times a second. Frequency hopping makes it very hard for someone to eavesdrop on your network. Also, HomeRF 2.0 has introduced the concept of a ‘network password’ needed to join your network. Without knowing the password peripherals will be unable to communicate with your network. Lastly, the HomeRF 2.0 standard includes support for 128 bit encryption so all the data traveling across the radio waves is scrambled.

802.11b, or wireless Ethernet, is subject to interference from 2.4GHz devices like some coreless phones. HomeRF also uses 2.4GHz but will track the particular kinds of interference in your home and work around them. It does this by figuring out what ‘data channel’ the interference is on, and then telling the frequency hopper to not use that channel. HomeRF 2.0 does NOT interfere with Bluetooth technologies.