BDP-1500 performs poorly while connected to network

I installed my new BDP-1500 bluray player today. I decided to be sure to confirm that I had the most current software, so I had taken the precaution of burning the current ISO image from Samsung to CD before I installed the player. My research showed that I should also install a USB thumb-drive so I put a 4GB thumb-drive on the rear connector of the bluray player during installation. I also connected it to my home network router.

After starting the player I checked the network settings and left all at defaults. I could see a DHCP address had been assigned by my router by checking my router?s settings. I confirmed the network function by seeing if it wanted to upgrade over the net. It did suggest an upgrade, which it seemed to perform well after several minutes. The player shut off normally after the upgrade. I restarted the player and it seemed to take a very long time to turn on. I noticed the musical chime stuttered slightly when it finally started up. I went ahead and inserted the ISO image upgrade CD I had prepared and the player told me that I was already at the version that was contained on the disc so I opted to not repeat the upgrade. The player shut off and it restarted with the same long startup and stuttering audio chime.

I inserted a bluray disc (the extra features disc from Sleeping Beauty). It took a very long time to load and the video content stuttered badly when played (audio and video was choppy). I noticed that the lights on my router that the BDP-1500 was connected to were blinking in sync with the stuttering. I disconnected the BDP-1500 from the router and the bluray disc content seemed to play smoothly, and the lights on the router stopped their rhythmic blinking (and returned to showing normal network traffic only).

Although I can leave the player disconnected from my network, my understanding is that bluray live requires that the player remain connected to the network to use these features. Is there something I can do to connect to my network differently, or should I reattempt the upgrade from the CD image? Am I the only one with this problem? Any ideas?