re: Home WiFi router- do they go bad?

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Had the same router for about two or three years. Do they get old and worn out quickly? How often do they need to be replaced?

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Routers aren't any more special than a microwave, coffee pot or refrigerator (those made within the past 10-20 years) in that sometimes you will get one that works for damned near ever and sometimes you get one that fails right out of the box. Generally speaking an off-the-shelf Linksys should run fine for 3-5 years depending on environment (as long as it has good ventilation, runs off a UPS and is kept up-to-date on firmware).

The time to consider replacing a router is when you encounter issues like slow and/or choppy (or even non-existant) performance across your network (phones, tablets, computers, etc) and a reboot doesn't fix it (or the fix doesn't last but maybe a few days or so). Another time to consider replacing is if you need to upgrade to keep up with technology (for example moving from 802.11g to 802.11n or AC).