>>>If you suspect that DHCP maybe the cause of the lost connection why not turn it off? Either create a static IP for the desktop and test or turn on the a replacement DHCP on one of the servers.
>>
>>If it's the typical Linksys DHCP issues, I suspect what Michel is seeing is that the lease his WAN IP address gets from his ISP is the one that's misbehaving, not the IPs that the router DHCP server doles out to the LAN machines. If his ISP doesn't change his WAN IP very often he might get away with making it a static address (my IP address on my cable ISP has only changed 3 times in the 8 years I've had the account, others [especially ADSL] change more frequently)
>>
>>Besides, his router model supports dd-WRT firmware (and maybe others as well) so he might as well try it - I've had excellent results with it.
>
>Knowing very little about these things, why does one opt to use non-manufacturer fimware on these devices?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd-wrt

>What are the nature of the "excellent results" you've obtained with it?

Most important to me and my clients is improved reliability. Early Linksys firmware for many of their devices has proven to have significant bugs and later versions usually don't fix them all.

Another feature I've used at some clients is the ability to increase the wireless radio transmit power, from the typical default 28mW to 70 or even 100mW safely.

So far I haven't needed the advanced features of dd-WRT but it's nice to know they're there.