If you want to start small, I’d go with one supported by Asuswrt-Merlin, “a third party alternative firmware for Asus routers, with a special emphasis on tweaks and fixes rather than radical changes or collecting as many features as possible.” Keeps it close to stock with minor upgrades, and a faster release cycle for fixes. The RT-AX88U_PRO is one of the higher end routers that is supported by Merlin.
If you don’t use a VPN on the router, you won’t need it.
But what if you decide to set one up so you can VPN in while on the road? Personally, I’d rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it…as well as “buy once, cry once” rather than need to upgrade down the line.
Avoid using mirrored consolidated lists, if possible; it deprives the original list maintainer of visits (meaning they may be less inclined to keep it up to date!)
https://firebog.net/
What I want are basically containers for a browser. So I hit the button for the ‘program’ which really just launches a browser that goes to the specific address, and ideally, can retain login information, and appears as a distinct item in the task bar, with it’s own icon, and cannot simply be merged with my browser.
Sounds like you want a Progressive Web App (PWA). Really handy things, and is actually how I use Lemmy via Voyager: https://vger.app/
If you want to start small, I’d go with one supported by Asuswrt-Merlin, “a third party alternative firmware for Asus routers, with a special emphasis on tweaks and fixes rather than radical changes or collecting as many features as possible.” Keeps it close to stock with minor upgrades, and a faster release cycle for fixes. The RT-AX88U_PRO is one of the higher end routers that is supported by Merlin.