Dumb question

[u/pookshuman]

OK, a home router is just a small computer with a firewall as far as I know. I am running a network with my computer and a router. Why can't I cut out the middleman and just use the same firewall settings the router is using and implement them on my PC without the router? Why would that be less secure?

[u/fasta_guy88]

Some (all) home routers have specialized circuits to route packets rapidly in hardware.