I do a lot of initial setups for radio and wifi routers. Wireless networks, etc... . I'm not really an expert at commandline stuff. I have a serious issue with CRS.
I need a distribution that where the network manager can remember settings and doesn't stuff me into loops where it insists on making an https conncetion vs an http connection. Since I almost never deal with real-world internet connections to login to a router and most routers get programmed from the LAN-side, not the WAN side.

Is there a preferred distribution for this? I been using Ubuntu, but the recent updates have made my job really frustrating by the browser refusal to connect via http much of the time.

I'm thinking maybe there is a distribution made just for what I do?

Try OpenBSD
https://www.openbsd.org/faq/pf/example1.html

I wouldn't be building my own routers. I would be connecting to already existing routers and placing the customers preferred settings such as SSID and passwords. I would also be programming radios to connect to each other such as point-to-point and point-to-multi-point to create LAN networks used in large area arrays. So I'm looking for an easy reliable solution to put on my laptop that will allow me to reliably connect to this equipment.

If you are using Chrome it might be set to https first or https only mode. Checkthe browsers security settings. Change it to both https and http if possible.

This is independent of OS as well as network manager settings. It is possible to keep the older version by disabling it from being updated.

thank you yvesjv, I'm not sure building a portable router would solve this problem. Your solution took a lot of time to create, thankyou for the effort. I just don't know how I could easily make it portable to implement.
After an update a couple months ago to my ubuntu I have to continuously press reload in order to eventually acquire the html interface. Total pain in the ass (pita). Taking more than double normal time to go through the settings. Each page that is altered and set as changed, induces a reboot that takes 2+ minutes and then it's play around with reload numerous times before acquiring the interface again. A normal person would probably use the device for skeet practice instead of putting up with this nuisance.
On certain models, firefox does not show some of the html pages, unknown reason other than the manufacturer says it's best to use chrome. Since I have to use multiple IP ranges, which can be stored easily in the network manager and selected when needed in a second, I find using windows another complete "pita" time consumer. Which BTW, I don't even have windows available, ditched that OS a dozen or more years ago. It seems quite wasteful to buy a laptop with windows on it just so I can configure radios and routers, and then I'd probably discover windows has the same issue I'm trying to resolve.
I haven't tried Dillo or Epiphany yet.