On the network symbol -- yes, once asleep, this connection (and therefore symbol) cease and upon awakening comes to life within several seconds (I have noticed this varies from instantaneous to perhaps 10 seconds).
What you've explained for the firmware upgrade has ALWAYS been my experience when attempting to download firmware (I've had my iPronto since August 2003). I became convinced months ago that this was NOT my network/broadband problem nor an iPronto hardware problem. Either Philips has one small server attempting to serve what now must be thousands of users (in which case we all queue up only to be rejected and therefore need to keep re-queueing) or the software that looks for the server connection is poorly written or??? I've come to learn to wait weeks to make firmware upgrades (after everyone else has upgraded). This has two advantages -- I'm more likely to connect (although it is no guarantee) and I get to see if the firmware's any good (based on feedback posted here) before actually downloading it.
The only reason to return it is if you despise it and if you can get your money back. Otherwise, there's probably nothing wrong with it and you'll then simply be out of a remote for the duration of the "fix" which, if response by Philips on upgrades and problems is any indication, is likely to be months.
