[jingo]

"...turned off the WiFi entirely just using it as a switch + NAT combo."

I took this angle early on and have never had second thoughts. As they say, "It just works."

Glad you are seeing the benefits.

However, I think "WiFi" is a strong marketing signal. Even if it does not work as well as Ethernet at transferring data, it appears to work well to sell products and services.

"I really don't know how this tech is going to work..."

It may not have to work. Consumers of computing devices have developed a high tolerance for stuff that is either ridiculously slow or does not work. Many do not know any different: when none of the devices people use have an Ethernet port, they will never know the speeds they are missing. The choice of using Ethernet has been removed.