ok... the problem seems to have been fixed. I actually use this router to connect to my internet router.
here is what i did...
reset the router, set new password
reconfigured network ip setup, reconnected to router via wifi
reconfigured internet DNS server and restarted router
it showed both adapters and assigned IPs
ran ipconfig and both adapters appeared with assigned ip
only thing i did differently this time was to flush my dns cache and add the internet router dns to this router
still not exactly sure how it fixed itself but i'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth