Buying a wi-fi router these days is no easy task. Long gone are the days where one model rose above the rest: now there are routers with different features, some that focus on range, others that focus on speed, and still others with advanced features like NAS support and traffic shaping options. This week we're going to take a look at five of the best home wi-fi routers, based on your nominations.Earlier in the week, we asked you which wireless routers you thought were the bestfor customization, range, signal strength, and features. You responded with more nominees than we could feature here, but a few models really rose out of the pack and were your clear favorites. Here they are:
Linksys WRT54G Series
The venerable Linksys WRT54G has long been one of the most hackable wireless routers on the market, and while they're a little trickier to come by these days, they're still widely available and if you can get your hands on one, you won't find another router that supports both the DD-WRT and Tomato alternate router firmwares better and more smoothly. Even though it's an 802.11g model and lacks 802.11n, and the range and speed of some of its more modern rivals, it's a rock solid router with a well earned fan base. It may be end-of-life from Linksys' perspective, but they do keep a well-updated support page dedicated to it. There's a reason this model has its own entry here.
Apple Airport Extreme /Express
A number of you nominated the Apple Airport Extreme and Airport Express for their simple configuration, minimal design, and remarkably low price point for what you get. It's not terribly hackable, and you're not going to buy an Airport model and go home planning to install custom firmware, but you will be able to slip an Airport Express in your pocket or suitcase and be able to set up or extend a wireless network anywhere you go (or plug it into any set of speakers to make them Airplay compatible), and you will be able to set up an Airport Extreme in a matter of minutes and have a cozy dual band 802.11n blanket over your whole house. The Express sports a pair of 10/100 Ethernet ports on the back, and the Extreme boasts four gigabit Ethernet ports for other devices. Both offer USB ports for connected devices like printers or (in the case of the Extreme) NAS devices. If you want a truly fire-and-forget router, the Airport Extreme is a good choice.
Netgear N Series (WNDR Models)
Netgear has come a long way, and its N-series (also known by their model numbers, WNDRXXXX) wireless routers are proof. PC Mag issued the N750/WNDR4000 an Editor's Choice award (and I'm a happy owner of one!) and the N900/WNDR4500 is one of the most powerful and speedy dual-band 802.11n home routers on the market today. Many of Netgear's N-series routers are compatible with DD-WRT, but even if you're not the type to flash your router's firmware, Netgear's own firmware offers quality-of-service controls, advanced access and parental controls, support for dynamic DNS, advanced wireless security options, and offer support for NAS devices and printers connected via USB. They range in price, and many of the better ones are definitely on the high-end, but in this case you get what you pay for.
ASUS RT Series
You may not think of ASUS when you think of wireless routers, especially if you haven't purchased a router in several years, but the ASUS RT series, specifically theASUS RT-N56 and RT-N66 models, combine great features and sharp looks into a networking package that offers dual-band 802.11n, support for connected devices like printers and NAS devices via USB, and some of the strongest signal strength and range available. Plus, most of ASUS's models support builds of DD-WRT or Tomato, so if you want even more control over the router's features, it's readily available to you. The RT-N66 even has detachable antennae that you can swap out for higher-powered versions that you can either buy (like the Mohu Bounce ) or build yourself .
Linksys E Series
When Linksys started to phase out the WRT54G series, they started to direct customers to the E Series—their easy-to-configure (and sharp-looking) replacement models. Every member of the E Series is an 802.11n router, and many of you praised them—specifically the E4200 —for their blend of features, simple setup, range and signal strength, and the fact that many of the E-series routers are compatible with DD-WRT, so you can flash the firmware and get even more features once the router is set up the way you like. Linksys' price point is attractive as well, and even if you opt not to flash the firmware, you can very affordably buy a router that takes moments to set up and needs little maintenance after the fact. It doesn't hurt that many of Cisco's routers specifically support household features like VoIP and traffic shaping for things like torrents, putting some relatively advanced features in the hands of people who may have been intimidated by them before.Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to put them to an all out vote to decide the winner!
No honorable mentions this week, as the next one down the line had fewer than half the nominations of the least nominated member of the top five, but if you think your favorite model got shortchanged, let us know why in the comments below! Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week . Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it's not because we hate it—it's because it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com !
Photo by nrkbeta .
It's tough to listen to your music if you can't find it. While not particularly sexy, one of the best upgrades you can perform is
You can carry around just about any song you want these days, but that's rarely better than seeing your favorite bands live. If you want to make sure you never miss an important show, 
Finding new songs via YouTube can be awesome, except when you can't actually find them. A lot of YouTube videos pick some great tunes and then completely neglect to attribute the musician. You're probably not the only one who has watched this video and found the lack of credit annoying, so your best bet is to expand all the comment threads and search through them for the name. Chances are you'll find it and be able to download the song for yourself.
You can fit a lot of music onto a portable media player, but you don't have to limit yourself if you use a streaming music service like 
Your music collection will always be difficult to maintain if it spans multiple computers. The easy solution? Syncing. If you're just syncing a bunch of folders you don't have a problem, but if you're dealing with iTunes (and some other music players) you will run into frequent conflicts. To learn how to make syncing work well, check out our guide to 
When you plug your headphones into your computer—or, especially, your portable music player—you're probably not getting the best possible audio quality. A Digital-Analog Converter (DAC) and Amplifier can correct that problem. The downside is that you have to have an additional gadget attached to your headphones, but this is mostly irrelevant if you're using a desktop computer. Smaller versions are available for portable devices, too, so they're not as obtrusive. They're not that expensive and you can read all about them 
Some people think bit rate doesn't matter, and others will only listen to lossless files. There's definitely a difference between a 128kbps MP3 and a 
Just because your headphones are cheap doesn't mean they have to sound that way. A 
Ultimately, the number one upgrade to your music is twofold: finding great new songs that you love and connecting with other people through the process. Social media has spawned several ways to make this happen easily, so you can hear about new music you might like through people you like and actually know your interests. Many of the previously mentioned streaming services connect with Facebook so you can see what your friends are listening to, but that's mostly annoying. The best way I've seen to use Facebook to find new music is simply to ask. Post on your wall that you want suggestions of new songs to check out to expand your interests and let your friends come up with a few playlists for you. That should give you plenty to explore for awhile. You can also use services like 
