R6400 crashed during firmware update bricked itself

I have the R6400v2 router and I have the exact same issue.

Happened yesterday basically after updating firmware through the routers web interface which looked like it finished but the router never came back.

I'm successfuly able to reset the router and use the TFTP to flash the latest firmware which transmitts in about 100 seconds with zero errors. The power light keeps flashing amber well past this firmware flash and never stops (I have waited as long as 20 min).

The router remains pingable but the web interface is never reachable.

Called Netgear support - who first said my 90 day support is expired, then they sent me to technican anyways who was quickly convinced that the router should go through RMA but said I'm out of hardware warranty. But then she put me on hold for a while and came back and said she'll RMA anyways after speaking to a supervisor.

Anyways - interesting ordeal. Good on Netgear for supporting the product but honestly, quality is really suffering. I'm very disappointed with this product. Unfortuantly, it is one of very few models that supports Disney Circle for parental control and that is the ONLY reason I bought it.

PS> The version that bricked the router is the latest as of Dec 3rd 2020 - I wasn't paying attention through thwe web interface. However, when the router didn't get back online I looked for the latest version which is R6400v2-V1.0.4.102_10.0.75 and it did not work. I tried one older version and that did not work either.

PS2> Netgear support did not offer any advice on how I might be able to resovle this.