I haven't read this whole thread, so I apologize if someone has mentions this info already. I was in a similar situation when I was younger. My router was in my Kitchen ( weird place I know ), and my room was upstairs. How I fixed it was I bought a second cheaper router ( some linksys, probably wrt54g ), And a 100ft ethernet cable. Placed one end of the ethernet cable into my old router, and routed the cable along the ceiling nicely, then to my room where the other router was. Then after that I just used an old regular sized ethernet cable I had laying around to plug into my computer from the newer router. Just my two cents