𝕽𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑 𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖑

Maybe run a good windows debloater on the device? I was impressed by how much smoother my Win10 VM ran afterwards! Here’s a link: https://github.com/raphire/win11debloat

PS: Works for Win10 & 11

Well ya, you need at least two NICs to properly setup a firewall. Additionally, since NICs are the most crucial piece of hardware for routers and firewalls, it’ll only be as good as the hardware it runs on. Older NICs lead to regular crashes and/or slow network speeds. So swapping the original NIC out and adding another is VERY typical when repurposing old PCs as a router. The most common options for NICs I’ve seen are the Intel I350-T2 and I350-T4. Ironically, they cost about as much as a decent router, but going this route actually puts you in control of your home network!

Yep, but unfortunately it’s not always as straight forward as it may sound. Plus, with routers becoming more difficult to acquire, it’ll only get harder and harder to pull off. But there’s OpenWRT and dd-WRT that work with a pretty decent range of routers as well as ASUS Merlin for many ASUS routers. Then, if you want to get nerdy with it and build your own router from an old computer, there’s OPNsense and pfSense. Eventually it’ll come down to these two if the ban is longterm and you want any semblance of obfuscation online…