Sprint problems / Good Mid-level 8 Port Solution

First timer here. I have recently ran into some issues with my Sprint/Earthlink DSL and it has prompted me to completely re-wire my house with new ethernet and new phone lines. I began to experience slow service and sometimes no service during peak times in my neighborhood (6 - 8 am and 4 - 7 pm) that reminded me of the old dial-up congestion issues. I spent time with Sprint customer service on the phone running tests and they verified slow and sometimes non-existant speeds, numerous error logging (their term) and frequent dropouts. They sent out a tech (who doesn't even own a computer) and he said my 1.5 Mbps was clocking 1.7 and said the problem was inside my house. I replaced all of the phone lines and all of the cat 5 and I still had the same problem. Sprint sent me a new DHCP modem to replace my PPoE modem. Same problems. I bypassed the Lynksys BEFSR4.1v3 router and tried it as a single user system for 48 hours. Same problems. Sprint sent the same tech out again and he gave the same response - not their problem. He suggested that I had a bad router. Sprint phone support noted that my service had logged off and on over 240 times in the last 18 days. I have only turned my Mac off about twice during that time.

I am going to buy a new router/switch to pacify Sprints objections. I have wired every room in my house and need an 8 port but I don't believe that I need VPN. My wife and I use the network for email, research, normal browsing, and a shared printer. No gaming, no chat, no file sharing, no remote access. I have read the reviews on the budget models and the AirLink101 seems to be a capable little unit but is only 4 ports. Most of the stuff out there is wireless but I am looking for a wired unit. Sorry for the long post, but I notice most that reply like as much info as possible to get a proper read on the situation. Thanks in advance for any help.

Consider an 8-port switch and a 4-port router. Even GbE switches are inexpensive.

Also consider turning off the radio on a wireless router -- wireless versions are more popular, so can be cheaper, newer, etc.