Go with me here. Routers are routers, and servers are servers. Some people mix and match things, but generally, ideally, this is how it goes. And I agree.
But the router I just set up, the Google WiFi, has 4gb storage, 512mb of ram, a quad core CPU at 800mhz, is easy to flash, and only costs $10-15 on eBay all day long.
If you used it as only a little computer, no routing.. Then..
If I wanted to say... Set up a tailscale node at my family's house. Why spend $45-80, or even $130(!) on a raspberry pi with an Ethernet port, when the Google WiFi works just as well if not better for that job?
Maybe a tiny matrix server? Tiny web hosting?
Or, for a less ideal solution, but still reasonable. What if I wanted to set up a remote backup node for my main server? If my needs were small enough, the Google WiFi would be much more economical, although you'd need to add a USB hub to break out the USB ports. And there would be limitations obviously.
Or getting really crazy, you could potentially squeeze one or two bigger services onto a router, just to see if it's possible.. Minecraft server?
My question is. What is the best device for this? The Google WiFi is dirt cheap at $10-15, I'm about to pull the trigger on a second one just to play with. But I wanted to see if you guys had any other suggestions?
I tried searching the toh for similar devices, but even restricting it down every way I can think of, I've still got over a hundred devices to look at.
Basically, I think older router hardware is an overlooked, cheaper alternative, to raspberry pis, for some scenarios.
For sure.
I have several of the Google WiFi pucks, myself. Flashing them wasn't too complicated, but it does involve disassembly. One of them was my primary router for a while, until it was eventually replaced by a banana pi. It handled the typical routing tasks, plus ad blocking, a VPN, etc. without issue.
Like I said, I believe there's an nginx package for OpenWRT, serving static web pages should be trivial. If I recall correctly, it only has 8gb of sausage and a half gig of RAM, though. Plenty for a router or static web server, but not a lot of resources for anything too complex. I wonder if you could squeeze a GoToSocial instance in there... That might be fun, actually. I've been tinkering with Home Assistant lately, but maybe once that's "finished", GTS on a WiFi puck might be my next project. Hm...