I called my friend who had it a year ago before me. Turns out the ethernet jack isn't functional ( I didn't realize this since I've only used it via wireless. Anyhow, this week it became a nice doorstop/paperweight for three reasons: 1) ethernet jack broken, as mentioned, so no internet there 2) I dropped it two days ago, which was a direct side hit on the PCI adaptor, which somehow broke the power connection to the PCI slots - so no power there, and 3) I tried to install a USB adaptor tonight, but can't open it's config utility, which was why I was trying to use the ethernet for internet to solve - nothing else works. Anyhow, thanks for the feedback.

follow the directions given with the router you do not change any cords till the cd tells you to take that step. Leave your desktop as you have had it, put the cd in the desktop cd drawer, run the cd follow the instructions it will tell you and show you exactly how and when to change the cords it will lead you through step by step, READ the instruction pamphlet that came with it that tells you what the cd does. When it tells you to set up a password for the router do it and write it down then tape that to the bottom of your router along with the name you give the SSID for your wireless network, you will at some point have to select to choose WPA2 for your method of security it is generally set there default, then it will give you a long WPA password you can accept that or create your own just keep that one it is more secure than one you create, be very very sure you write it down as it is caps and lower case and put that on the paper under the router. That is the key anyone in your house that wants to get on the wireless will need to enter into their laptop to connect, so that laptop will detect the wireless and then will ask for the password that is the one you just saved so you will enter that into the box and then it should connect if all is correct. On my linksys it asked during the set up if I wanted to print out all that info and yes I did and it also asked if you want to put a text file on your desktop with the info sure let it do that too you can delete it at any time if you no longer need it. Just take it one step at a time do not change anything till you have the cd in the machine and it tells you to. depending on the router you bought you can go to the company website and look up the model number and they all have a pdf manual on line with directions and pictures also. If you tell us which router you got someone might know more specifics of that particular one.

for routers I stick with liksys the only other one I used was a dlink and it was the one that was provided when I had verizon fios, all that I buy are linksys/cisco. If you already have an N router what are you wanting to upgrade? I found this to be a really good article on routers How to Buy a Wireless Router

It could be a problem with your provider, or it could be the quality of the cabling that comes into the house. I really don't think it's our cable. As I said in my original post, we directly connected one of the computers to our cable modem for a few days. During those 3 days, we didn't have a single dropped connection. We also had great connections BEFORE we switched to the wireless router (we used to use a switch) as of 2 months ago. First off I would check the Event viewer - Start/Control panel/Administrative tools/Event viewer on all 3 machines and read and compare the red or yellow markers to see if there is anything there. Took a look -- nothing there coincided with any of our dropped connections in the past couple of days. As Jodi noted, disabling Zonealarm did not do the trick, removal cured it for me. I'm sorry, I just don't buy that ZoneAlarm could be causing this. I've looked at all the computers. It's actually only installed on one machine (my husband's). His computer isn't even running right now, and yet I've dropped my connection 3 times in the past 6 hours. How could ZoneAlarm on a machine that is not even turned on have anything to do with it? I'm concerned that it may be Mikie's suggestion -- interference from outside. If so, I'm not sure what we can do to resolve it.