A router is one of the most common devices that people don't bother updating until a problem occurs, which is usually slow internet. If you have enabled automatic updates, then you can rest easy. The ...

Custom firmware might be fundamental.

As long as your router has not reached its end of life (EOL), the manufacturer will push firmware updates to it regularly. If you don't update it, the network may begin to behave poorly over time.

So long as the hardware is healthy, a router will continue connecting your devices to the internet long after the manufacturer stops releasing firmware updates. There's no built-in kill switch outside ...