Nighthawk AX8 WiFi terrible performance

This router worked well for a while after I set it up. I replaced an R7000 because it was struggling to keep up with the # of devices on the network. I live in the middle of nowhere and there are no other networks in range. All channels are clear. 5ghz works well with line of site... 2.4ghz however has no range at all anymore and the performance has degraded to the point where LTE performs at a factor of 10x better. This router is in dire need of a firmware update... the performance seems like it’s degrading rapidly as the length of time that the router has been set up increases... what gives Netgear? I’ve tried the silly “solutions” other threads mention and none have worked (disabling AX, changing channels, disabling SmartConnect etc.) I also think it’s terrible that what are accepted as “fixes” involve disabling many of the features in the router. I attempted to chat with support only to be told that they aren’t qualified to help and that I would have to call in. What’s the deal with that? Can someone from Netgear chime in and at least hint as to when this will be fixed and when a new firmware will be released? I’m on the current firmware but I’m about to try downgrading because some threads state that the previous firmware is better. Hell, I’ll even jump on a beta if there is one available. It’s crazy for a 400$ product to perform so poorly.