Networking options: This contains options related to -- you guessed it -- networking! If you're planning to attach your Linux system to a typical network, you should be sure to enable "Packet socket," "Unix domain sockets" and "TCP/IP networking." There are various other options you may be interested in, including "Network packet filtering" that allows you to use the iptables command to set up your own stateful firewall. For information on doing this, see the developerWorks tutorial Linux 2.4 stateful firewall design.

Network device support: The second requirement for getting Linux networking to work is to compile in support for your particular networking hardware. You should select support for the card(s) that you'd like your kernel to support. The options you want are most likely hiding under the "Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)" sub-category.