What people actually run at the edge of a home network, and when replacing the provider box is worth it

Asked widely, and the answers sort into four groups with a clear boundary between them.

The provider's box, untouched. Fine for most people, and the honest default. Where it stops: no control over name resolution, weak or missing VLAN support, firmware you do not choose, and often a hard limit on how many devices behave well at once.

Provider box in bridge mode plus your own router. The most common upgrade and the one with the best effort-to-benefit ratio. You get your own firewall, your own resolver, port control and a device that gets updates for years. Bridge mode is the important half: two devices both doing routing is where the strange, hard-to-diagnose problems come from.

A small dedicated box running a router operating system. More capable, more to learn, and genuinely more reliable once configured. The reason people move here is usually one specific need: VLANs to isolate devices, a VPN back into the house, or wanting the resolver and firewall under one roof.

Separate the wireless from the routing. Regardless of the above, access points that only do wireless outperform an all-in-one at the same price, because the antennas can be where the people are rather than where the cable enters the building.

When it is worth it: if you have ever wanted local name resolution, a guest network that is genuinely isolated, or a VPN home, the second option pays for itself quickly. If none of those mean anything to you, the provider box is not holding you back and the upgrade is a hobby.