The issue has been solved! If a moderator could mark this as solution that'd be nice, thank you 😉
It turns out that this issue is not too challenging to solve (minus the hours I spent tinkering...). At least on my satellite, the firmware was corrupted. I'll explain all the steps below, but I assume an auto update bricked the satellite while upgrading to 1.1.6.122 in late 2021/early 2022.
-------------------------!
This article from Flash 2 Hack really helped me in the end, and I recommend following their steps before mine as their article is more complete and might help more than mine (also, odds are that I am forgetting important drivers or something of the like). (Complete link here: https://www.flash2hack.com/?p=393). You should be able to skip right to step 5.
Additionally, some minor command line knowledge is necessary for this fix, however I was able to figure it out from basically nothing. I saved my downloads in a file nested under C:\ RouterFix - make sure you use the "cd C:\ folder" command before running the command (change directory to wherever your new firmware is).
-------------------------!
How I fixed my MS60 satellite - I am running Windows 10:
1. I unsrewed the bottom 4 screws under the satellite's feet
2. I plugged in a serial reader. In my case, I only had an arduino uno which I used to read and send serial commands however a USB to serial converter would work better.
2a. For the arduino, I connected the ground and reset pins together with a jumper. Then I connected jumpers to GND, TX, and RX on the arudino. The order for the pins on the satellite (from top to bottom) was TX, RX, GND, and VCC/unused. I used a multimeter to find which pin had no current (therefore identifying it as GND). Then I connected the arduino TX to satellite RX, arduino RX to satellite TX, and GND to GND. If you're using a usb to serial converter cable (like from amazon), the steps should be the same.
3. I downloaded PuTTY (from this link) for my Windows 10 machine
4. I downloaded the MS60's firmware from the Netgear website
5. I enabled the "TFTP Client" in control panel (Control Panel > Programs > Turn windows features on or off > check "TFTP Client"
6. I opened windows command prompt (CMD in search bar).
7. Please follow Flash 2 Hack's article from here, its photos and descriptions will make more sense than what I can write here. You should be able to skip right to step 5!
7a. IMPORTANT AMENDMENT: Do not stop the router's boot up attempts like the guide suggests! It will automatically enter TFTP search mode (no it hasn't crashed like I first thought) and then your command line prompt will do its work from there. It is possible to restart this search mode but it is just unnecessary work.
8. A few notes: nothing noticeable happened after I entered the command line prompt - this was normal. PuTTY started detailing the upload about 20 seconds after I pressed enter. Also, my satellite auto-reconnected to my wifi network. If yours does not, follow the according guides from there.
Hopefully this helps whoever was in the same dire circumstances I was, remember that if it is truly a software problem you can most likely fix it. Good luck everyone!
schmiedingm
