Ive had the same router for.. uh.. 3 or so years its sitting otop of my DVR box next to the playstation, which is ontop of my DVD player, which is under my TV and all of them are about 5 ft from the computers and we've never had them fry. so Im not too sure about that 12 ft rule there. :)
I think youre just a jinx for electronics luv. :)