A gateway has an Internet connection on one side, and some sort of LAN connection on the other. (Usually it includes a wireless LAN.) It's a modem, it's a router, it's a switch. It's pretty cool. (The picture is from Johnkdavis.net.)

But what is it in terms of the market? How will you get it?

Is it a set-top box? Certainly the friends who got me curious about all this in the first place think so. A carrier defines their Internet services through the gateway. Phone companies are picking partners. They could point to Bell Canada's tie-in with Siemens. All the carriers are picking partners. Get hitched now or miss out. Who do they play golf with?

Is it a modem? This was the surprising conclusion of ABI Research, in a report issued late last month. Standards are emerging, there will be little to tell between them, they said. This is how consumers like it, and it's a great way for DSL to pick up market share against cable, since cable companies prefer wires to wireless.

Is it a cell phone? The DSLForum is voting on proposed standards right now, for what's in the gateway, the server it connects to, and the way that server connects. But not every gateway will work on every DSL network. Maybe phone companies could put a range of gateways on offer, at a range of prices, ranging from free to a few hundred dollars, with different capabilities -- some handling video, others focusing on punching through walls, still others basic units for home networking.

I'm not sure what the answer is. Rob Keenan of CommsDesign suggested that it could change. Basic units might go retail, the way Linksys routers do, but as video takes hold phone companies might give them away as part of the service. "I care about cheap, easy to install, and whether it works," he said. "All this other stuff is meaningless."

So what do I conclude? I conclude that you can't draw a final conclusion. If you're making gateways you try everything, a full-court press.

But if you're really careful you look to what comes after them...