A home network system disclosed herein includes a high-speed network for networking a plurality of home appliances and a low-speed network. A portable information device is provided so as to be connectable to the high-speed network and the low-speed network 11 in a wireless manner. A portable information device access point is provided for helping the portable information device reciprocally communicate with the home appliances connected to the high-speed and low-speed networks. The portable information device does negotiation with the access point to be served by the access point. Thus, both the home appliances and the portable information device share their resources to effectively exploit them, with the home appliances organically associated with the portable information device such as a cellular phone or a PDA.