Not to mention this new "cheap piece of crap" router solved my Linux wireless problems too... the signal even carries up two floors in my house very well!
Amazing when the cheap hardware performs better than the overpriced name brand stuff, but I have run into that also.
Good job on keeping with it until you solved your issue. Sounds like your good to go. To paraphrase an old saying, "there are few problems in hacking that persistence cant solve". Be a little careful about going to wild with scanning blindly over the net. Some ISPs monitor that and will cut your connection.