Sprint HTC Hero :: Slow Phone And Wifi Drops?

I've been overall satisfied with the phone so far, but have some questions I'm hoping someone can answer/help me with. I've looked through as many threads as I could and tried the advice I found, but still no luck. The phone seems incredibly slow all the time. I came from a Palm pre, which had issues itself, but the Hero seems so much slower. Opening apps takes time, even the phone takes time. I've installed and app killer, no luck. I've reset the phone to factory settings, no luck. I've updated preferences, deleted apps, reset phone. still nothing. I read and was told that the Hero was faster than the Pre, but mine doesn't seem that way. Wifi always drops when connected to my home router. My wife Sprint phone always stays connected, but not mine. I reset the router, disconnected and reconnected the phone, tried all advice that I could find. Nothing. Visual voicemail doesn't work with bluetooth. I was told that this may not be a phone issue, but rather that the application doesn't allow bluetooth. Can anyone confirm?