Well, as an early user of DOS, Dan, I think it would be difficult not to see most any upgrade as an improvement. I may be a Neanderthal, but.....
At home I do tend to leave my machine on and wirelessly connected to the intrawebs 24/7. Other than just a wider opportunity for the hackers, what's the danger there and what's the defense?
By router, you're talking about the one from which I get my wireless connection, or something in my own machine?