What, people still connect directly without a router?
Seriously, I'd be screwed without one. The horrible little ADSL modem I got from my ISP didn't work with anything other than windows. It also tended to drop the connection left right and centre, requiring a full blown USB reset in order to work. I really don't miss that piece of junk.
Now, even my A1200, sporting an ageing TCP stack that doesn't even support DHCP, let alone IPv6 is happy to talk to the outside world.