Router does 3 things

Hi guys👋, our home router which we connect for WIFI is actually combination of 3 different networking components

• Firewall
• Switch
• Wi-Fi Access Point

Performance

For everyday use, a home router delivers decent performance.

However, when multiple devices are connected or network usage increases, it can become a bottleneck.

The interesting part is, we can significantly improve performance without buying an expensive high-end router. Here’s how we can do that?

Plan

Think of it this way:

1. One person doing three different jobs
2. Three people each doing one specific job

The 2nd approach is always more efficient. Instead of a single home router handling:

• firewall duties,
• switching,
• and Wi-Fi transmission,

we can separate these responsibilities into dedicated devices.

Firewall

• We can convert an old computer or laptop into a powerful firewall using tools like:
  • Opnsense
  • Pfsense
• These provide far more control and configuration options compared to a typical home router firewall.

Requirements:

• The system should have 2 Ethernet ports:
  • WAN port – connected to the ISP modem
  • LAN port – connected to a switch or access point

Switch

A switch allows us to connect multiple wired devices such as:

• desktops
• laptops
• TVs
• servers

This component is optional, but for maximum speed and reliability, wired Ethernet connections are always better than Wi-Fi.

Access Point

• Access point takes a wired network (Ethernet) and creates a new Wi-Fi network.
• Our devices can connect to this network.

By splitting responsibilities across dedicated devices:

• network performance improves
• scalability becomes easier
• upgrades can be done independently

This setup can be built on a minimal budget and scales very well. I haven’t implemented this setup at home yet!