Hosting your own services. Preferably at home and on low-power or shared hardware.
Also check out:
I have a Tplink Archer C7, which works great with OpenWRT. I also have a gl-inet device, which is fine, but WiFi reception is better with the C7.
If you end up buying a gl-inet device, first check if you can flash a recent mainline OpenWRT image on them. The modified OpenWRT they come with out of the box is often based on an outdated version.
Gl inet devices have open WRT support out of the box, more first class experience
I'll consider it, but the Flint is a little more expensive than the Archer I found, and the Velica doesn't have enough LAN ports.
Tbh, if you’re really serious about getting customizable home infrastructure, just get (or cobble together/upcycle a thin client into) a 2-port router, a good switch (managed/unmanaged as your needs dictate), and a solid WAP.
This. My first serious network upgrade was splitting out the router/firewall, Wifi, and switching to a Ubiquiti Edgerouter Lite, 8 port Netgear managed switch, and a Ubiquiti AP Pro.
It ended up being around the price of a night hawk, but I had way better control over the firewall/NAT rules and it made future upgrades less painful as I could just target the switching vs WiFi for a change.
As a side note, nearly all wifi routers that I've come across can act as just a access point. My current setup is using the Orbi mesh wifi system to get a decent signal to my attic bedroom.
Was coming here to say this. GL-Inet routers are awesome for the price. I have a Slate. Friggin love it.