Today’s broadband consumer is increasingly becoming a networked consumer, and more than half of broadband users in the United States today have some form of home network, according to a recent survey conducted by ABI Research.

This growth – up from one third of broadband subscribers in 2006 – comes as service providers increasingly push more advanced gateways with embedded Wi-Fi, and consumers look to extend their broadband connections beyond the original single connection in the home office.

“The home network is no longer an early adopter technology, as increasing numbers of consumers look to laptops and PCs as well as newer devices such as gaming consoles and even Wi-Fi enabled mobile handsets,” says research director Mike Wolf. “Our research shows that more than one quarter of home network owners say they have a game console on their home network, while another 8% say they have connected their mobile phone.”

This growth in core home networking, however, is a sign of a market that is increasingly mature. This maturing of the core home networking business has resulted in home network vendors looking for new areas of growth beyond their gateway and home router product lines. Results from new areas of focus such as media adapters and network attached storage are mixed thus far, as consumers have yet to adopt these new product categories en masse.

“Fifteen percent of home network owners today are streaming music over the network and another one in ten is streaming video,” notes Wolf. “These are early indicators that there will be consumer interest in these next-generation applications around the network. The key over time will be to create easy-to-use products that integrate seamlessly with the living room, an area of the home that carries with it different expectations regarding usability and end-user experiences. Ultimately, we expect more integration with existing consumer electronics products as well as a greater role for the service provider in managing networked media applications.”