Make it last.

Don't throw away that old router yet (especially if it has dd-wrt or the like). The reason why I say that it allows you to set up an intranet (private network). Why would you need such a thing. Say you want to set up several computers, but did not want the network traffic to hit your internet network and slow it down. For example a gaming network. We are now using an intranet for the home automation network. The real world does not need to see or have access to what we are up to either.

Nice simple guide:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php...as_DHCP_server

Love being able to have name resolution on local machines. Use real names in a computer browser. No more 192.168... Blah blah blah.