No its not useless
your router is just useless lol.. it would probably work if you use your real IP address. when you use an IP address other than your "real" ip address, it confuses the loginserver (AOL can do this too because of its proxy).
Some people can get it working with the router if its set up properly to foward the ports, ect but its not something i care to learn about and/or explain. I always tell people to try it without the router and see if it works (it will).