When things didn't work, reboot

I bought a Netgear N750 router. The wireless connection works immediately. However, when I tried to connect my VoIP phone to the LAN port, it failed, no connection. I tried to connect it to my laptop, it still showed no connection. I tried it on every one of the four LAN ports, none of them worked. After tons of googling to no avail, I started to consider the possibility of receiving a defected product. Frustrated, I eventually reboot the router. To my surprise, it then correctly detected the attached device. Sigh, I should have followed the number 1 tech support trick: reboot.  


P.S. I usually outsourced my IT work to my best friend, but since I am now a "mac" person, she refused to be my IT so I couldn't consult her any more.