mmm well... for a software firewall get a copy of outpost/kerio/any other one you feel like - plenty of people will come up with recommendations but TBH if you have a look through the older posts you'll find plenty of suggestions.

as regards a router... yes getting one for broadband would be much, much, much better than using a hub. As for the best one... down to personal preference really, all home products are fairly similar these days... I have friends who like linksys and d-link... and they are good products... personally I have a netgear RP614v2 which as well as NAT does have a basic SPI firewall - really is up to you, what features you want and what you can afford. Might be worth having a look at the router section here

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/

Z

[edit] oh yeah... regarding stability... mine has never given me a problem but I have heard stories of stability problems with linksys, d-link and netgear... I guess its just luck of the draw sometimes.