Where to go from here…

Now that you have a finished router, you may be itching to go even further. There are limitless possibilities for what to do now. The interesting thing about building your own router is that you are now in charge of both your hardware and software, and you will have resources to spare to add functionality such as ad-blocking software, and have it all in one box. If you wish to add extra functionality, there are many tutorials on the internet to help you on your journey. You can also work on adding new hardware, such as network expansion cards, additional storage and RAM, even adding additional operating systems and programs to make a multifunctional server system. You can purchase wireless access points and network switches to connect all your wired and wireless devices to the router and ultimately to the internet. What you do here is completely up to you. We also recommend taking steps to ensure that your router functions well and for as long as you need it. Simple maintenance tasks such as dusting it every six months or so will reduce noise and heat generation, greatly increasing the lifespan of your hardware and allowing you to reap the benefits of a high performing and heavily customisable router for years to come.