Earlier quoted context omitted.
hard to parse this statement, since the software itself is doing the lion share of making the router "good" (unless you mean wireless g/n support or something?) i've used this project to put new life into a Buffalo router that's probably 10 years old and runs way cooler and more performant than the original firmware. same with an ASUS router that's probably 6 or 7 years old.
Hardware is quite important; wireless standards keep evolving, some people care about how many ethernet ports they have, and system details (CPU, RAM, flash memory) determine performance and features (you lose a lot trying to fit your system in 32MB of flash).
My grandmother has a SiteCom WLR-4000 (aka SiteCom WL-351, aka EnGenius ESR9850) and that has a 4MiB flash chip; building OpenWRT for it is a pain, but I can still get a flashable image that does everything I need it to do, including the stock web interface (LuCI), with 100k left for persistent configuration data.
It even has WireGuard (kmod-wireguard, luci-app-wireguard, luci-proto-wireguard) on it for a bridge to my router at my home.
When it breaks, or if I ever upgrade my WNDR3800, I'll give that to her. But for the time being it's still perfectly serviceable.