So it seems that my Buffalo router running DD-WRT is starting to flake out.
It drops about 1-2% of its packets. Replacing it with an ancient
cobbled-together linux box (still around as a backup from the last time my
router device went belly-up) solved most of the packet loss (tho not all).

So I need recommendations based on people's experiences with the latest
generation of router devices. I'm sick of building linux routers out of
desktop machines, and would rather run something on a small solid-state
device.

I remember Soekris boxen got some attention when they were new.
http://soekris.com/products.html
These look pretty modern:
http://soekris.com/products/net6501.html

They're spendy, but hopefully it's good-quality hardware which I won't have
to replace every few years because it dies.

Does anyone have recommendations on hardware that:
a: runs linux
b: is likely to keep running instead of dying after a few years
c: is cheaper than the above Soekris solution
?

-- 
Carl Soderstrom
Systems Administrator
Real-Time Enterprises
www.real-time.com