HOME NETWORK SECURITY

More Americans are choosing to spend time working and playing at home, a phenomenon dubbed cocooning. Centillium Communications is banking on the acceleration of this trend to drive the success of its Palladia 100/200 ADSL broadband CPE router chipsets.

With more people turning to their home computers for work-related communications as well as entertainment, Centillium believes a need has arisen for a solution that combines DSL access with home networking and security. This is especially true for telecommuters searching for videoconferencing capabilities, high-speed access to the corporate network and an effective method of securing the data that is transmitted between home and office.

While the Palladia's home networking capability will be the key to its success, the security component would resonate with telecommuters, said Pat Hurley, DSL analyst for TeleChoice. “They've heard about the security risks of broadband connections, and they don't have a network administrator at home to keep on eye on things.”

Dana Tardelli, research analyst for The Aberdeen Group, isn't convinced that security needs to be contained in the chipset. “They're adding about 10 bucks to the cost of the chip, almost doubling the price, and that's pretty significant,” he said. — Glenn Bischoff
www.centillium.com