It could be very inconvenient to unplug the router. The real issue is what level of threat you hope to counter. An unexpected extra clock or an extra coffee machine in the room, as mentioned in the article, would not represent a very high-level surveillance tactic. I mean, to try something as blatant as that would be very unimaginative, or at best, evidence of working with very limited options. Is there really a two-bit Airbnb surveillance problem?

I doubt that a sleazy airbnb host would be sophisticated enough to place a decoy router, and if they were, there's probably nothing I could do to stop them.

My threat model would be the host trying to blackmail me and/or get their kicks from watching me.

A corporate or national actor isn't part of this model, because: - I'm a low-priority target - Prevent highly sophisticated attacks borders on impossible/maddening - The likelihood of the creep is probably 10,000x more

I'm not sure unplugging the router would help, but I probably wouldn't find it very inconvenient either (depending on location).

Overall it's probably worth a quick try to locate and unplug it - if you can't find it, hedge your bets and try some other opsec techniques. Just my own approach.

I keep a small (and cheap) separate router for my IoT devices. If I wanted to spy on someone, I'd definitely use one of those, with a USB powerbank acting as a UPS.