I'd say that adding an Ethernet shield to the Uno or Mega you would get in the common starter kits is probably the most beginner friendly route.
However, if you want a WiFi connection to the network instead of Ethernet, then I would say that it's going to be easier to use something like the MKR WiFi 1010, Nano 33 IoT, ESP8266, or ESP32.
The Uno and the Mega are the easiest boards to learn on because they have been around so long that the support (both official and community) for these boards is amazingly good. The newer boards I mentioned also have a good level of support, but they simply can't compete with the classic Arduino boards because they just haven't been around so long to accumulate the massive amount of tutorials, libraries, example sketches, etc. If you're interested in learning about Arduino in general, rather than just doing one project, then it might be the best path to start with something like the Uno or Nano to learn the basics, then move to the more advanced WiFi board once you are ready to make that step.