That was also the suggestion I received from tech support and I’ve already tried (for hours as I rly need the device) with no success.

I’ve sent over my detailed findings to them but to summarize:

  1. I’m barely able to trigger failsafe mode. I follow instructions properly and can’t really get it to work at will (it’s random and issue could be related to the fact that the PC doesn’t normally recognize the router)
  1. Less than 10 times I was able to trigger failsafe (blinking light) and PC recognized a router was connected. However most of the time I can’t access 192.168.1.1
  2. Twice I was able to access 192.168.1.1 but not able to proceed and the page stopped loading. Waited 10 mins and confirmed no changes
  3. Once (my latest “success”) I was able to get it to reach the update in progress page. Waited 10 mins and no visible change in the router. Unable to access .1 and .8 on PC so I restarted router w/o attempting to trigger failsafe and to my surprise PC detected router and I was able to enter the .8 site using my old pw with settings intact. But upon checking fw version is still 3.009 and not 3.026 wc I loaded in uboot just 10 minutes ago. Restarted router to insert my sim card and it stopped working again. Unsuccessful attempts to trigger debrick mode again since.
  4. OS is Windows 10 and I’ve attempted with browser cache cleared

In hindsight, should’ve attempted to update fw again when I entered .8.1. But like usual, very difficult to trigger failsafe. There could be something wrong with the LAN/WAN ports/module (among others) which mess everything up and hinder triggering failsafe mode. As stated, PC normally can’t detect router (network cable unplugged) and when I do manage to trigger failsafe, PC can’t establish proper connection to router. Also, it is very weird that when I turn the router on, sometimes both Power and WAN LED lights are on and sometimes it’s just Power light (although result is the same).