Your router can do way more than your ISP lets it.
Most stock routers run closed, vendor-only firmware. Flash an open one and the same box can:
- block ads for every device on your network (AdGuard Home, Pi-hole)
- cut lag under load with SQM / CAKE (goodbye bufferbloat)
- run network-wide VPNs (Tailscale, WireGuard), split tunnelling and VLANs
The software is OpenWrt, a free, open-source Linux OS for routers. Check your model is supported on the OpenWrt Table of Hardware before you flash anything.
Which would you set up first? Follow for more network hacking.
Sources: github.com/openwrt/openwrt, bufferbloat.net (CAKE), openwrt.org
From the comments: the follow-up guideOpenWrt with an Airtel, Jio, BSNL or ACT connection: what actually worksYou almost never flash the box your ISP gave you. You put your own OpenWrt router behind it. Here is how that works on each of the big Indian ISPs, and which routers to buy.