I do understand that from the customer's perspective, a server issue is indistinguishable from a software issue; I only meant to point out that there is a difference between the two "under the hood." (Also, I should've used the word "product" rather than "technology."
There's no "shifting blame" involved or intended. Any networking professional will tell you that server downtime is unavoidable; the best you can hope for in the long run is to minimize it. Of course, two occurrences within about a month probably does warrant us taking a look at our current arrangement and seeing if there is a better option.
Jeff: I understand your points, but as I see it, having a downloadable executable would only make a difference if you were reloading firmware that you already had. New firmware would still require you to connect to a server and download the executable (or update it). I really don't see how that makes an appreciable difference in the issue of server reliance. Explain please?