Sorry to hear about your issues. I have had three Nodes, a Node 2 and 2i (both currently in use) and another Node 2 that I gave to my brother when I upgraded to the 2i. One is wired to the router, other wired to an another router used as a repeater upstairs in the man cave. I have never had any issues with the Nodes, neither has my brother. I set up another Node 2i for my sister-in-law and she has never had any issues. I think hardwiring is the way to go.
I test drove a Matrix Element X in the man cave to possibly replace the Node 2, in order to get better sound quality. It did not do well set up wirelessly, but did fine hard wired.
I like the BluOS app. It covers most services and also does internet radio. The Matrix app displayed album covers better, but is harder to navigate, doesn't do internet radio, Spotify etc. Really limited on services. It also froze up to the point that I could not log into my Tidal account after a Matrix version update. I returned the Matrix. I now use the Node 2 to stream to a Denafrips Terminator via coax. Still no issues with the Node.