>1) The Linksys HomeLine PhoneLink Ethernet Bridge or the Linksys Instant Wireless Network so I can surf the 'net (or write code) on my laptop while I'm in the family room. Or my husband to install network drops in every room of the house >g<.

If you already have an Ethernet card for the notebook, skip those two and pick up Farallon's HomeLine Ethernet adapter. You'll need two - one runs from your router to the phoneline and the other from your notebook to another phonejack. As this implies, this things takes an Ethernet cable in one end and a phoneline in the other. I have a nice mixed network set up here with all the machines in my office connected directly to the router and the machines in the rest of the house running through the phone lines.

Tamar