Remember when you needed an Ethernet jack to access the Internet? That little requirement made it a lot more difficult for some people to add web-enabled devices into the home, especially around the AV rack. Thankfully, we’re seeing more devices with Wi-Fi support than ever before—and it looks like a lot of you are taking advantage of it.

According to a new report by NPD In-Stat, both the supply and demand will drive the number of WLAN-enabled video devices to around 600 million in 2015.

This year, we saw a record number of HDTVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles and set-top boxes with Wi-Fi support inside. That means that you no longer need to drill and add that Ethernet connection behind the AV cabinet.

“Wi-Fi has moved from a nice-to-have feature to a must-have feature as it provides the connectivity necessary to support IP-based video content,” says Frank Dickson, VP of research. “It is important to note though that Wi-Fi is growing from being simply about getting content from a network to devices, to sharing content between devices, as Wi-Fi evolves from being a network-centric connectivity standard to one that enables peer-to-peer connectivity. New innovations such as Wi-Fi Display and Wi-Fi Direct will fundamentally change the way that content is moved and shared in the home.”

Other interesting tidbits to come out of the study include:

• Digital TVs will reach a 40 percent WLAN-attach rate by 2015.
• In 2014, mobile hotspots will have an 802.11n attach rate of 98 percent.
• Over 28 million WLAN-enabled Blu-ray players will ship in 2013.
• The 802.11ac standard will achieve an attach rate in mini-notebooks of 23 percent in 2015.

All of the above info comes from NPD In-Stat’s recent report, which is titled “Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) by Device, Q1’12 Forecast.” It covers the worldwide market for WLAN by device and by technology.

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.