http://www.pcengines.ch/apu.htm ?

Presumably this will actually be released at some point soon.

Also the soekris hardware looks nice, but it's pretty expensive.

/me salivates

Unfortunately by the time it's released, the hardware will already be a bit old. But nonetheless, the specs are certainly sufficient for most cool things.

Right, but they weren't designed to be fast routers. They make awesome single-purpose servers, though (DNS recursors and NTP, in my case).

Yea, for something like a single-purpose DNS recursor or NTP server, any cheap hardware will do. You got your terminal server for what? 15 dollars? Much more reasonable than the 100 bucks an ERL costs.

That $100 is funding the ongoing development of EdgeOS though. It doesn't seem to make much sense to buy an ERL if you're just going to put another OS on it. Shrug.

Newer Atheros routers are 2 chip solutions with radio chip hanging on PCIE connection. It is possible to cut this connection and insert PCIE Bridge between.

http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/DB8605.html

This way you retain radio, but get two additional PCIE slots for SATA controller and another network adapter for example.