@Home Network Inc’s corporate division, @Work, is now ready to roll out its tele-commuting service which it has been testing with employees of Sun Microsystems Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co (CI No 3,116). @Work Remote uses cable modems to tie into the dedicated network @Home’s created to configure what are effectively a virtual private networks enabling employees working at home to access their company intranets. A cable modem with a 10Base-T interface links a workstation to the cable Headend. The @Home Network connects the cable system to an @Work regional data center and on to an @Work router at the company’s site. Users then have TCP/IP access to corporate LAN resources, @Work says. @Work Internet is the company’s ISP service. @Home is backed by cable companies TCI, Co and Comcast, in which Microsoft has invested $1bn. It points to Find/SVP research which supposedly indicates 11 million people work at home at least one day a week in the US.
