Not long ago, PC networking was enough to make the average computer user blanch. We're not talking about technophobes here, either. Throw some other Mensa-level computer tasks at one of these tech-savvy types, and they'd take them in stride. Install a new graphics card or RAM? Child's play. Program a few Excel macros? Easy as falling off a log. Set up a database? Sure, but what should I do after my coffee break? But talk about networking and the smug grin turned into a panic-stricken rictus.

It wasn't just the business of setting up IP addresses, access, security, and sharing rights. Over the past five years, Microsoft has been doing a pretty good job of automating that kind of machine-level configuration in its operating systems. The real headache was wiring. Dragging yards of blue Ethernet cable through wall cavities meant summoning an electrician and vacuuming construction dust out of your office for the next few months. Wireless networking wasn't the ideal answer either--sure, wireless networking is fine for notebooks, but it wasn't meant for desktop computers, and it tends to slow down a lot as you move away from the wireless nodes.

Last year, a new networking standard appeared that took the wiring problems out of networking. The HomePlug PowerLine Alliance standard 1.0 uses Ethernet networking standards over the wiring that every home and office has--power lines. Stick a HomePlug adapter on any two power outlets in the same house.

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