Running an OPNSense router
Background For the past 9 years or so, I have been running Asuswrt-Merlin on my ASUS RT-AC68U and later RT-AC86U (AC1900, and AC2900 respectively). I have been very happy with both routers and with Merlin, and they gave me whatever I needed in terms of security and features. All my devices had static IPs on the network. I could easily set up my own VPN client so the whole network would go through a third-party VPN, and I could run a VPN server so that I could connect to my home network when away on my phone.