[simoncion]

> One issue is simply that when you are playing with it (updates and all that), you won't have a router and you will lose internet access for all your connected devices.

For my system, the only update I need to reboot for is a kernel upgrade. For everything else I can restart individual services, which leaves routing and firewalling completely untouched. And when I _need_ to reboot the thing, it takes right around 30 seconds from the time it stops passing traffic until the time traffic starts flowing again.

> You also have to consider power outages (UPS highly recommended) and electricity costs.

Power outages aren't a concern, as the rest of my networking gear isn't on a UPS. But boy, howdy are you right about the power costs. I've gone from drawing 12W _max_ (read as "_never_") to more like 20W _idle_, and way, way more if I'm performing updates.

> If WiFi is the reason you change so much, you can buy access points and connect them to your router with wires.

Yeah, I strongly recommend this. Separating your APs from your router is a smart move.