Bad Router Omen

I've been having problems with my D-Link DI-524 wireless router.  My connection from my powerbook drops, it reboots and I can't do WPA encryption to the AirPort Extreme.  So I did a little research and went out to Best Buy and bought a Linksys WRT54GC.  I got it home, unpacked it and wanted to install it.  No manual, just a CD to run.  I remember seeing something about a firmware update so I went to the linksys web site to check.  It was down for maintenance, at 2:30 in the afternoon on a wednesday.  Not a good sign.