Given that I have the choice, is there a reason to prefer enabling the SQL Browser Service over using the default static port, or vice versa?
Here's the specific context:
We have little third-party app with a few clients that connect to a 2005 SQLExpress instance. This instance was configured to accept remote connections, but we kept having intermittent connection issues that would show up as "password mismatch" login failures, i.e.
Login failed for user 'AppSQLLogin'. [CLIENT: 10.x.x.x]
Error: 18456, Severity: 14, State: 8.)
I eventually figured out that it was using dynamic ports, and starting the SQL Browser Service has apparently resolved the login issue.
But since I don't have multiple instances running on that server, it seems to me that I could just set the named SQLExpresss instance to use the normal default port 1433 and stop the browser service. Assuming this is the case, are there any reason I should or shouldn't do this? Or put another way, should I not run the SQL Browser service unless I explicitly must? (it's not enabled on any of our other single default instance SQL servers).