Thinking about a gift of a router for your dad or soon-to-be graduate? The convenience and ubiquity of 2.4ghz Wi-Fi still make it the technology of choice for the router at the heart of your network. But you might also consider a powerline networking kit, which let you use your home's existing electrical circuits to hardwire devices requiring more reliable performance. Powerline is as fast as 802.11n Wi-Fi but without the drop-outs and other interference-related problems that can make a video unwatchable on a wireless network. A hybrid Wi-Fi powerline network solves many problems: By using powerline to hard-wire bandwidth-intensive devices where mobility is not an issue (NAS drives, printers, game consoles, home entertainment center components), you not only improve performance for those devices, but for gear that uses Wi-Fi (say, a laptop or iPhone), you reduce the demand on the wireless bandwidth. When looking at Wi-Fi routers, key features are USB ports for networking standard hard drives and/or printers, guest Wi-Fi access mode, and strong parental control features.