Here are seven tips for helping users with connectivity decisions.

1. Know your options. The options for home-based and small-office networks continue to grow. Users can often choose between cable, DSL, satellite, fiber-optic, cellular and even wireless connections, depending how close to an urban setting they are. Speeds these days range from 500Kbit/sec. for cellular to 50Mbit/sec. downstream for new fiber-optic services such as Verizon's FIOS offering. IT managers should help users research all the available options in their geographic area.

2. Know the applications your users need to access. If user are trying to access big files such as CAD/CAM drawings remotely, a 500K bit/sec. connection is insufficient. However, if they're only accessing Web-based e-mail, then that option might suit them well.

3. Know when they will be accessing the network. Briere says timing is everything. He points to cable as an example. "Cable might tout higher bandwidth speeds than other connectivity options, but it's a shared connection, so when kids in the neighborhood come from school to do their homework online, that performance is degraded," he says. Therefore, if your employees plan to do most of their work during after-school hours, those who live in congested areas might have problems with cable connections.

4. Don't forget about backup connectivity. Briere says one of the biggest issues with home office and small office connections is that they are very susceptible to outages. If a CFO is working from home to churn out the company's quarterlies, an outage would be devastating. "People have become so reliant on their cable and DSL connections that when they go out, they are in trouble," he says. He recommends giving users with mission-critical duties access to two connections, such as cable and DSL or DSL and cellular.