If it’s a mesh system yes running wires would be a nice upgrade

Wired backhaul?

RIP what a hero. Anyone know of a replacement? Will these eventually stop working?

What do you want to do? You could try to Ppick a problem and then find a service to solve it. Maybe a pi hole ad blocker, or homeassistant for home automation. Both of these run well on a pi. Then follow the guide to deploy those services.