Sorry for the confusion, the datasheet (copy) I was looking at has the 6500 on the front but specs for pix on the back. I missed that

Regarding the throughput of various busses,

PCI-X. 1064MB/s

came out in 1998, so it has been possible to build a gigabit capable router since sometime around 1999 using pc hardware.

The cards can't push the speeds? This seems silly, since the Cisco 6500 series (mostly) uses Pentium III processors and PCI cards. There are several open source router solutions that use standard hardware. Check vyatta for one example. Maybe you chose poorly performing components, or possibly the router was ineffectively configured, but the GigE cards most likely can push GigE speeds.

True, it is not dualband. I still think it's the best off-the-shelf-buy-it-at-the-local-retailer type device currently available. Since it has plenty ram and 32Mb of flash as well as 2 usb ports, I plan to use it as is for now and then add a usb dualband radio later once an opensource driver is released if I need one.

Very few devices in this class have the potential for modding into various devices that the RT-N16 has. Want to add asterisk telephony to your router? No problem. Add more wireless radios? Plenty of space for drivers, plenty of ram. One guy said he loaded all options available and he still had half the ram free. Most other dd-wrt compatible devices have 64Mb or less ram and 4-8Mb flash so they are much less versatile, not to mention the slower processor speeds which can cause performance bottlenecks. And it retails for around $95.

Look again, the ath9k chipset has open source drivers.

The ASUS RT-N16 is the best consumer product I've found for dd-wrt so far. 128Mb RAM and 480mHz processor, 802.11n and 2 usb ports.

If the machine doesn't have a serial port, you could use a USB serial port and plug it in when necessary.

If the network is down but the ethernet port still works you could try a crossover network cable connected to a laptop.

Leaving out the video card is a good idea if you can, the power requirement will be reduced. If you're into hardware hacking you could add a switch to the video card power bus line and leave the card in the box.