Unfortunately, the range of an IR signal is severely limited since the signal doesn't move through walls and requires an IR access point be located in any room you want to access the wireless signal. This is a more expensive solution for wireless than RF since you would need to buy as many access points as you had rooms you wanted to be wireless-capable.
No hardware vendors currently manufacture 802.11 IR equipment, although you will still find laptops that have an IR port for connecting to a printer or other devices. Current WLAN and WPAN solutions are more efficiently and inexpensively accomplished through the use of RF technology and man-made IR transmissions in your home are most commonly found in TV, VCR, and DVD remote controls.
802.11n: The Next Generation
The next generation of Wireless LAN will be based on the IEEE 802.11n standard. This specification effectively quadruples the data transfer speed of 802.11a and g networks which are capable of maximum rates of 54 Mbps. 802.11n devices are rated for speeds of 100 Mbps at a minimum and up to 200 Mbps or higher at the upper end. This means even modest estimates would allow 802.11n networks transfer speeds equal to today's standard Ethernet networks.
Although the 802.11n standard is still in draft form as of this writing, both D-Link and Netgear have announced the development of wireless routers based on this specification. Belkin and Linksys have remained silent regarding their plans in this arena but it's likely that they are also developing similar devices in order to maintain a competitive edge.
It is probable that 802.11n equipment and protocols will be backwardly compatible with 802.11b and g networks but as mentioned previously, traffic in a wireless network will only travel as fast as the slowest link. For instance, if you have an ancient PC that has a NIC capable of only 10 Mbps transfers, it doesn't matter that it's linked with a 100 Mbps capable switch. In this race, the tortoise is never faster than the hare.
Don't expect to be able to upgrade your home WLAN to 802.11n standards by next Christmas. The major chip makers are still discussing exactly how throughput speeds will be achieved across different platforms. That being said, one of the major criticisms involved in completely replacing Ethernet with wireless is that speed and security on a wired network is always superior. While security still needs to be sorted out, with the promise of 802.11n, speed may soon no longer be a barrier.