Linux can be a terrific "poor man's" router. It takes a little more startup configuration than a typical hardware router, but once it is going, very little will stop it. at least in our experience. We've been using the router setup detailed below in production for six months now (a few months more worth of pilot-testing), and the only faults we've encountered were either service-provider related or due to water-soaked cables — unbelievable, but true, and a really long story I won't get into here!