It shouldn't be too hard for Cisco to make its Linksys routers into the central device in a home network, even with multiple vendors' equipment, said Parks Associates analyst Kurt Scherf. But the key to doing so will be selling them as gateways through service providers, he said.

"Consumers are much more happy to allow their service providers to be the IT manager," Scherf said. "You will still buy products off the shelf and connect them to a home network, but gateways will be doing the managing and monitoring."

Scherf applauded Cisco's strategy of helping train retailers to sell networks and networked products, which he said was a key to the success of Linksys before it was acquired by Cisco in 2003.

But he wasn't so quick to dismiss wired networks in homes, citing the wide variety of types of homes and infrastructure around the world. "I don't think you can say that one networking technology is going to win," Scherf said.

From the article, "Cisco Refocuses on Wi-Fi, Video After Killing Flip Video Camera" by Stephen Lawson

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