Computer networks for the home and small business can be built using either wired or wireless technology. Wired Ethernet has been the traditional choice in homes, but Wi-Fi wireless technologies are gaining ground fast. Both wired and wireless can claim advantages over the other; both represent viable options for home and other local area networks (LANs).

Wired LANs: Wired LANs use Ethernet cables and network adapters. Although two computers can be directly wired to each other using an Ethernet Crossover cable, wired LANs generally also require central devices like hubs, switches, or routers to accommodate more computers.

Wireless LANs: Popular WLAN technologies all follow one of the three main Wi-Fi communication standards. The benefits of wireless networking depend on the standard employed: 802.11b was the first standard to be widely used in WLANs. The 802.11a standard is faster but more expensive than 802.11b; 802.11a is more commonly found in business networks. The newest standard, 802.11g, attempts to combine the best of both 802.11a and 802.11b, though it too is more a more expensive home networking option.