Thank you for the response and yes, the clarification was very helpful. I do want you to know that most of what I said in that post (except for the obvious), wasn't directed at anyone in particular, but was really intended to benefit everyone. We want members to think of us as solution providers and we hope that we live up to that name. From my perspective, that seems to be the case.
So it appears that we are in agreement regarding the manufacturer's and carrier's forums. Truth is, in most cases the technician you are talking to knows less about the phone than you do. This is understandable since they must support so many different models of phones. They typically rely on a "Knowledge Base", a computer database of known problems and successful workarounds or solutions, and they follow a relatively strict set of troubleshooting techniques. Once they've exhausted the process as dictated by their corporate moguls, the only thing left is replacement.
I am disappointed that your router's apparent resolution was short-lived. I was hoping that it was a permanent fix. Still, updating the router's firmware can almost never be a bad thing, so as far as that's concerned, you're starting off on the right foot with the new phone. I wish you best of luck with the phone going forward and don't be a stranger to our forums.