[zanny]

I've always wanted to just use an old junk PC as a router instead of paying for what is basically an overpriced Pi with a 4 jack ethernet card attached. But the problem then is that getting enough ethernet ports in the thing to equal the average router is price prohibitive.

I wish there were $20-$30 PCI-E bridge cards of >2 1Gbit ethernet jacks but they don't exist.

[zrm]

> But the problem then is that getting enough ethernet ports in the thing to equal the average router is price prohibitive.

Unless you actually need the ports to do some kind of network segmentation, one solution is to just plug the inside port into a five port switch (~$15). Which is how a lot of the consumer grade routers are implemented internally anyway.

You also can find quad port gigabit cards around those prices. Currently $22: https://www.amazon.com/HP-NC375T-Gigabit-Ethernet-539931-001...

There are scads of used quad port cards for even less on eBay.

[untangle]

Dual-port start at $18 on amzn ($35 for Intel)? But single-port will do ($12). The add pfSense, Untangle, etc. to complete the solution.