mr2100 hotspot with variation of reboot loop problem

[Shplad]

Hi:

I'm in Canada and I have an mr2100 mobile hotspot with what appears to be a variation of the reboot loop problem. The unit boots until you see the Netgear logo, progresses until the second progress indicator black dot, and then stops. Eventually, the power switch flashes slow red. Windows media sense doesn't acknowledge that any device is connected to my PC's Ethernet cable.

The unit was made in Jan. of 2021, but tech. support refused to speak with me, telling me they won't even offer firmware updates or anything until I pay a fee. I work in IT for a living and this is the first company I've ever heard of that refuses to help at all with what is almost guaranteed to be a firmware issue without payment. They wouldn't even tell me if there was a known solution to the problem.

I read many reports here about the boot loop, and this would appear to be a variation of that problem.

I tried countless resets to factory defaults, with the battery in and out of the unit. I tried it with the SIM card and without. Nothing helped. I see Netgear employees here on the forum sharing firmware updates. Can someone suggest whether this can be fixed, and if so, would that require a firmware update? I'd love to tell you which firmware version I have, but I don't know because the unit doesn't finish booting.

It would be a shame to throw this in the garbage and add to our planet's already existing problems.

Thanks in advance.

[Shplad]

On October 14th, or 34 days ago, user JohnPeng on this forum, from Netgear promised to send me a replacement for my defective MR2100 router. Nothing.

About two weeks later, I contacted Blanca via Instant Message, who said she would look into replacing the item for me. I have not heard back from her either.

So as of now, I've been promised a replacement 3 times, and I haven't even received any communications, let alone any shipments.

Does Netgear plan to just make promises they can't / won't keep?