router

So I recently switched to a cable based ISP, and they are of course charging me a monthly fee to use their modem/router. I would like to buy my own, but I don't know much about them (what's good, what to look for, etc). Can someone point me in the right direction? Maybe even go so far as to...

I've wanted to get a router table for several years now for a few small projects, but couldn't justify spending a few hundred bucks on a tool that wouldn't get used a whole lot. In addition, my "workshop" is pretty small, and I don't have a dedicated area where I could put another permanent...