The router is not needed on the field at competitions, and (IMO) joystick placement should be left to the driver's discretion. However, I would make sure to mount the Driver Station so that the competition port and Ethernet ports are easily accessible to plug in the respective cables on the field. It is highly recommended that these ports do not face your drivers - I have seen them get disconnected in the middle of a match from driver movement (which left the robot disabled for the remainder of the match). For example, our driver station is mounted an angle between the operator's and driver's controls:
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...820701_n.j pg If you do end up mounting your DS horizontally, as many teams do, just make sure that there is enough room to plug in.