@steven @joby @millihertz thanks for the suggestions, Steven! am already thinking about backup strategies and will look upon VPN options.

just to elucidate: my router is not the issue, it's brand new and has great features. the thing is I live on a shared apartment and I rent the room, so I can't pull an ethernet cable from the router (which stays in a central point of the home) to my room. it would upset the owner of the apartment and would be a lot of work, unfortunately. 😕​