I re-read the post and realized that it might be a bit confusing.
For clarity: I have described in one post everything that occured over 2-3 month time period. I am not sure what exact role each item had palyed (although each one seemed to help somewhat), especially that I had gone to 1.3 in the meantime.

For me it was a progressive affair.

I just want to reiterate that I have NO issues with n900 anymore - when it comes to connectivity - that is unless the network operator terminates my connection.

This is true for data connection on the phone itself with my custom/redundant APN (obviously with the LCD on), as well as for the use case when the n900 acts as a 3G WAN modem - connected to my Tomato router (with LCD off, and charging off of a self-powerd hub, that sits between the router and the phone)..

netC