Networking Technologies for Your Home Office

You're thinking about adding a few employees, or maybe your spouse has agreed to help out a little with your homebased business. Or maybe you just want to share the broadband connection with your kids. Whatever your reason for installing a home network, the process doesn't have to be the nightmare it used to be. There's a variety of wired and wireless solutions available that are all relatively simple to set up (so you won't be shelling out money to have an electrician rewire your entire house).

Unfortunately, at this point, the available solutions are not interoperable. The two newest--Powerline and 802.11a--haven't quite caught up to the popularity of 802.11b, whose price and speed make it a compelling offering. So what should you consider before deciding on one particular technology? Each has its limits, so take your home environment--as well as your budget-- into account before committing to one.