By Michelle Johnson, Globe Correspondent, 05/06/99

Here's how the options break down: Ethernet LAN Ethernet kits are the top choice for home offices and small businesses looking for speed, compatibility with an industry standard, and a way to share a high-speed modem such as a cable modem (other networks can't handle sharing at speeds that fast). If you're not faint-hearted about handling wiring or opening up your computer, go this route for the best performance. Kits include: 3Com's Office Connect ($120). NDC's SOHOware Fast Ethernet Network Starter Kit ($110). Netgear's FB104 ($110). Phone line Home networking kits that work through the phone line piggyback onto your regular phone signal, using a higher frequency than normal phones use. Since they don't interfere with regular phone operation, you can be on line, transfering a file, or sending a fax while you talk on the same phone line. Products in this category include: ActionTec's ActionLink Home Networking Kit ($90). Intel's AnyPoint Home Network ($189). Best Data Home PC Link Kit ($200). Linksys HomeLine ($90). Diamond's HomeFree Phoneline ($100). Wireless Wireless kits send signals from one PC to another via radio waves. They're a good bet if your computers are on different floors, or in different rooms in the house. Kits are: WebGear Aviator Wireless Networking Kit ($150). Zoom Telephonic's ZoomAir ($110). Diamond's HomeFree Wireless ($200). Proxim Symphony ($150 per desktop). Proxim's Symphony is getting rave reviews for speed. Electrical outlet The Intelogis PassPort Plug-in Network ($180) carries radio signals over the electrical wiring in your household. The 350-Kbps network it sets up is slower than other products listed here, which can run up to 1Mpps, so this may not be the best option for home office users copying large files or trying to surf the Web at faster speeds. The PassPort has drawn praise for easy set-up, but low marks for speed. Like wireless, this is a good option when you have to connect equipment in different rooms of the house. Direct connection If all you want to do is hook up two PCs located in the same room, consider a direct connection. You'll tie the computers together via a cable that goes into their printer (parallel) ports, or for newer machines, into their USB ports. Products include: Anchor Chips' EZ-Link ($90). Belkin's USB Direct Connect Adapter ($90). Traveling Software's Laplink Professional ($150; add $39 for a USB cable). Mac Mac users will find that the options are limited when it comes to the new home networking kits. Farallon has announced a new product that will connect Macs to other Macs, or Macs to Windows PCs over existing home phone lines. It is due out this spring; no prices yet.

The desktop's connected to the high-speed modem.

The high-speed modem's connected to the laptop.

The laptop's connected to the scanner, the laser printer, the color inkjet printer, an ancient fax machine - and, yes, back to the desktop.

And they're all humming via radio waves, phone jacks, or old-fashioned wires snaking across the room.

Welcome to the home office of the next century - all networked.

Dropping PC prices mean more households - as many as 21 million by the end of the year - now own more than one computer. The need to have multiple PCs share files and devices such as printers and scanners - as well as an Internet connection - is fueling the development of home networking products that make it all happen.

As recently as a year ago, networking a menagerie of home office equipment could easily mean getting out the drill, running wires, and wrestling with complicated software and hardware configurations to set up a local area network, or LAN, similar to what you'd find in any corporate setting. A daunting task for most home office workers sans an MIS (management information systems) department.

Walk into your local computer gizmo store today, and you can pick from almost a dozen new home-networking kits that work over ordinary phone lines, electrical outlets, or via radio waves, basically turning any house into its own network.

Plug a device into an outlet, and it's on the network. No drilling required, and in most cases, no additional wires needed. Some setups require that you to open your computer to install a card; others work through your computer's printer port.

Selling under the catch phrase ''no new wires,'' these products claim to be easier to set up and use than traditional LAN equipment.

If you think the dozen or so home networking products are mind-boggling now, just wait. Among the ''whole-house'' options is one by IBM and Bell Atlantic called Home Director, which is built into new homes so you can design your home office and your network, too. A future product will work in existing homes.

Top among the reasons home office workers say they'll turn to home networking is the need to share an Internet connection. And they want that connection to be fast. Motorola's Internet and Networking Group, based in Mansfield, has homed in on that issue by pairing a cable modem with networking equipment that works over an existing phone line.

This ''broadband gateway,'' due out in the fall, will allow multiple users to connect to the Internet at higher speeds. ''The experience is going to be significantly better than dial-up modems,'' says Vedat Eyuboglu, vice president and general manager of Motorola's home networking product operation.

''We're not just doing general home networking; we're doing home networking in conjunction with 'always-on' broadband access,'' says Eyuboglu. This means that home office workers can have an experience closer to their counterparts in traditional office settings who don't have to dial in to retrieve e-mail or work around busy signals.

What's out there? Quite a bit.

*See inside the office of the future

Michelle Johnson, an Internet consultant, is a former editor for the Globe. Her e-mail address is [email protected].