40G1U2G100MBS12WATTS
about $100, 10 year plan
The good
No Google, No Facebook, No Myspace, No Youtube, No Skype, No Magic Jack
can run light things like encrypted voice, file share, a root shell, ssh, nginx, modsec
Stick box behind a firewall and only the ports you need can be turned on and off with port knock (SPA)
Which means you can face to face deliver binaries to acquaintances, which knock their way in, and close on the way out
It can have it's own IPTABLES that allow only several IP's in, or emergency cutting off getting packets from the entire web including the local lan or switch it's plugged into in only 256 lines of synchronized blacklist.
0.0.0.0/8
...
255.255.255.0/8
echo "Done: No packets no mo..."
The bad
Security takes valuable daily productivity time
Tuning the performance takes time
Finding the IP's of your small network and getting them into the various rules can be a pain, so you'll probably benefit from some free Dynamic DNS service
It's unmanaged, so if you get cracked because you didn't protect it, you are on your own to fix it, and it might make you stay up for days sometimes. If you want sneaky shit you have to invent, and script it. Figure out what it is you really want to do, kill all the other services and crap, only run what is NEEDED.
This system ain't for running a wikileaks mirror obviously, but it can get you the hell out of all that social crap.and at least feel like back in the bbs days, even though fios splitters are sucking up every packet they can, if your packets are rubbish then who gives a fuck cause you'll never know if they can crack it or not, and in any event mobsters at least won't be looking at plain text to rob your bank accounts, or destroy your live via casual chat. You'll need to replace some fans,add it to the cost, and buy them ASAP. If your like me you have this crap laying around and anything connected to a toilet paper roll ducktaped to the hole, which sucks air is enough cooling for such a low power system.
I can hear you asking already... Yes you can go with a high powered system, fuck my low powered 486 crap. But I wanted to have emergency comms lasting 10 years as my goal here.
Hope this inspires others!!!