Question : Win XP Pro SP2 cannot see workgroup computers with SOME routers

I have a rather extensive home network which began to lose internet connectivity about a month ago, once or twice a day.  I have resolved that problem as being due to radio interference on the household wiring I have been using for wired ethernet connectivity; but, while troubleshooting, ran into a different issue I'd love to find solution to.....
(P.S. This is not an easy one, folks, and I have been fixing PC's for 32 years)
If I use a Belkin router, it acts as the DNS forwarder and properly routes WORKGROUP file sharing requests back to the local compters.  I can also ping by both IP Address and Computer Name.
If I simply replace the router with a Netgear (I have also seen this with others in the past), I suddenly lose the ability to browse the local network. I can ping IP Addresses all day long; but, pinging ECC-07 (one of my computers) gets routed out to Earthlink's DNS server and is, of course, unresolvable.
I believe the problem to be that the Netgear is not acting as the DNS server/forwarder and does not check its own list of attached devices to resolve names.
The frustration is that all of the network shared folders are unreachable; though, ironically, a shared printer still works!
So.......
1) Does anybody have a fix that can be made in the router so it routes ports 445 and 135 back to local hosts?
2) Does anybody have a fix for the router so the computers assigned by DHCP are browsable?

I am not inclined to give everybody static IP Addresses, in part because I connect at least 10 computers a week bellonging to clients and want them to have access to two folders on one of my systems (read only, of course)

If there is no fix, is anybody interested in starting a list of routers that ARE SOHO friendly?

Answer : Win XP Pro SP2 cannot see workgroup computers with SOME routers

OK, there is no solution......
Unless the router acts as a DNS forwarder, routing requests to the computers within its scope back to the LAN, users will have continuous fits with "My Network Places" especially in a mixed O/S environment.
Symptoms include the inability to browse the workgroup, incomplete listings of the computers, and/or problems using shared folders or printers.
Any easy test is to look in the Details of the Support tab under the connection's status.  If the Gateway and DNS servers have the same IP Address, your home free. If they differ, you may have problems.
Almost all D-Link or Belkin routers handle this properly; almost all Netgear routers do not.
The simplest fix is, if you have a Netgear router and are having problems in your workgroup, replace it with a Belkin or a D-Link (that's a real shame because I like many of the features in the Netgear routers; but, it isn't work having my LAN break twice a week).