I am going to go out on a limb here and believe we are talking about the screen pointer. That is called a cursor. I like Gene's heat thought. Also, quite often a slow responding "mouse" is a result of lack of system resources. It could be the same here with your laptop's "cursor". In both cases as multi-tasking activities amass perhaps the system can't keep up. A reboot then creates a reset and everything starts over fresh. You might want to take a look in the startup as to what is running, DA

I assume you are talking about wireless router. Yes it could have something to do with it. Various router brands work differently some better than others, also depending on if it is a g or an n rated router will make a difference also and depending on what your laptop is rated for too is it g or n? You can buy a range extender which could help. Also try moving the actual router around a bit where you have it located to see if that helps. If yours has the antennas on it you sometimes can buy bigger antennas which will help broaden the range. what is the name and model router you are using? this is a general example of one of the extenders, go to the product description for an explanation on how it works. Range Expander

This is certainly repairable but I'm not sure if I, personally, would bother, but if you wanted to go for it. This site shows how to take everything apart. I didn't dig too deep into it so I'm not sure if the touchpad itself can be separated from the top unit, but even so it shouldn't be an expensive part, relatively speaking, if you look at parts recyclers, ebay and the like. To buy the part from Compaq, if even available, it would be more than a new unit I'd be pretty sure. Compaq goes for volume sales. There's likely a lot of units out there and being Compaq, there's likely a lot of junked out units so parts shouldn't be tough to find if you're willing to look and buy from a parted machine. As far as a DIY project, if you have some basic mechanical skills and can follow directions you should have no trouble. The things to be careful about include remembering that this is a cheap, delicate unit so don't force anything. Keep good lighting available and a magnifying glass. Have heavy items like a cups or something to keep the small parts in and keep them in order so they don't fall down on the floor into the carpet. When you work on it, pick a time that you're not likely to be stressed or interrupted. Getting into the middle of a tearapart and leaving it to come back later to finish is not a good thing to do. Be rested and ready to go at it. I doubt this should take long to complete with any luck. It gives a real sense of accomplaishment to do a job like this should you choose to tackle it. Or you might choose to just use a mouse! Good luck on whatever option you choose.

As I said, on the Gateway NE71B it is the F6 key and the Fn key does not need to be pushed. Better if ti did as that would prevent what happened to me, accidentally pushing the F6 key and thus not knowing it, only knowing the touch pad was dead. I tested just now and confirmed what I say. All made by Acer, no argument here, but it appears some functions are in different physical places on different models.