I've been using DD-WRT x86 for a few years, so it's very similar to what Tomato x86 is doing. When I upgraded to 1gbit internet, my old high-end Netgear router that I paid hundreds of dollars for couldn't keep up. And I knew 2Gbit internet was coming, and now they're offering up to 7gbit fiber speeds.
New routers with faster CPUs to keep up with the increasing bandwidths are costing about $700. No way am I spending that kind of cash for a router, even if it has the latest Wifi.
Instead I bought a cheap $50 Dell from ebay with a quad-core i5 CPU, I installed DD-WRT x86 on it, I put in a cheap 4 x 1gbit ethernet card, and I bought a cheap refurb Wifi 6e router and use that only for the wireless functions. All-in it's about $200. Now I can keep the same main x86 router hardware and I can keep upgrading my internet speeds as well as upgrade the wifi externally whenever I find it necessary (and I can find a cheap wifi radio).
The DD-WRT maintainers were also very helpful (and in a timely way) when I requested they add a 2.5gbit NIC to the DD-WRT drivers, so now I have upgraded to a 2.5gbit network. And if I want to put in a 10gbit NIC someday, maybe they'll help out again. I know, I should move to something "more modern" than DD-WRT, but it suits my needs well for now, and someday I'll probably be moving to a different x86 based router software should DD-WRT not be able to keep up with my needs.
New routers with faster CPUs to keep up with the increasing bandwidths are costing about $700. No way am I spending that kind of cash for a router, even if it has the latest Wifi.
Instead I bought a cheap $50 Dell from ebay with a quad-core i5 CPU, I installed DD-WRT x86 on it, I put in a cheap 4 x 1gbit ethernet card, and I bought a cheap refurb Wifi 6e router and use that only for the wireless functions. All-in it's about $200. Now I can keep the same main x86 router hardware and I can keep upgrading my internet speeds as well as upgrade the wifi externally whenever I find it necessary (and I can find a cheap wifi radio).
The DD-WRT maintainers were also very helpful (and in a timely way) when I requested they add a 2.5gbit NIC to the DD-WRT drivers, so now I have upgraded to a 2.5gbit network. And if I want to put in a 10gbit NIC someday, maybe they'll help out again. I know, I should move to something "more modern" than DD-WRT, but it suits my needs well for now, and someday I'll probably be moving to a different x86 based router software should DD-WRT not be able to keep up with my needs.