How's updating the firmware going to help

If it was working before then I see no reason why it should not work now. Without knowing exactly what you are doing I can only assume that there is something you are not doing correctly. From what you describe it seems that you have done the obvious but are you sure there is nothing else on your pc or a switch on the router stopping it from working correctly. Even if you can't connect to the internet, you should still be able to get into the router to check the settings.