ICEbox: Toward Easy-to-Use Home Networking

Home networking is becoming an essential part of everyday life. However, empirical studies and consumer reports indicate that the complexities of configuring and maintaining the home network impose a high barrier for most householders. In this paper, we explore the sources of the complexity of the home network, and describe a solution we have built to address this complexity. We have developed a prototype network appliance that acts as a centralized point of control for the home network, providing device provisioning and reprovisioning, security, discovery, and monitoring. Our solution provides a simple physical UI for network control, using pointing to introduce new devices onto the network, and a physical lock to secure network access. Results of our user studies indicate that users found this appliance both useful and usable as a network configuration and management tool.