Netgear Router Can't resolve DNS

OK, I "fixed" it. I am not exactly sure which step of the following process was the culprit, because I did all of them at once. All references to "the router" mean the Netgear N750 WNDR4300.... See my first post for a description of the problem. Here is what I did that ended with a working router:
1. power down the ZyXel P600 DSL modem
2. power down the router and unplug ALL cables
3. plug power in to router and perform a factory reset - hold the FR button till the power light blinks rapidly - it took near 20 seconds longer than the manual indicates.
4. put the router down and go make coffee - it took a LONG time for the router to go through its reset cycle. On the order of 5 minutes before all the lights were on and green (well , blue for the 5gHz light) (power light, and the two wireless lights)
5 power down the router with the power button
6 power up the ZyXel modem and wait til all the lights have stabilized (again this is long > 2 min)
7 plug in the Netgear supplied ethernet cable to the RJ-45 port on the modem, and the WAN port on the router. Why the factory cable with ends labeled for the modem and router should matter is not clear, but I was taking no chances.
8. power up the router and wait till all the lights come on (power, internet and the wireless lights) the ether net never did turn green, but stayed amber.
9 plug in the ethernet cable to my desktop computer to ethernet port 1 on the router.
10 open chrome and go to routerlogin.net enter admin, password for user and password, then wait for the autodetect to finish
11 the router now gave a green light for the internet, but the Genie display on the browser said there was no internet connection.
12. click the "internet" button, start manual set up. Under "Does your internet connection require a login?" select the "yes" radio button. Choose PPPoE for encapsulation (this is what Earthlink uses)
13 type in the user name and password. Ignore chrome's offer to fill this in from the previous session. I'm sure I put it in right, I read it like 10 times but I'm not trusting anything at this point.
14 hit apply. Once the bar crawls across the screen try to open a window - it WORKS! at least it did for me.
15 go to advanced set up > WAN set MTU to 1492 (default is 1500, but the largest possible under PPPoE is 1492). Test again Still works!

I'm not sure which step fixed what I did before, but I see two areas where something could happen. First Autodetect, Factory Reset and stabilization of the ZyXel modem all took much longer than expected. In fact, the first time I thought I had done a Factory Reset I got to the browser screen and found some of my previous settings still there, so clearly it hadn't worked. There were many points where I thought the reset might be done, but waiting showed that the lights would change again. Second, is the Chrome autofill when it comes time to put in username and password. I know that my brain filters what it sees for what it "knows" I typed. It is all too easy to miss a mistake.

Lessons. Wait! Each step needs to go to completion. Be meticulous. There is no such thing as a trivial error here.

I hope this long explanation help someone. I'd like to think my unpleasant experience can at least be a lesson to others.

--tks