Pkg issues updating 2.3.4 –> 2.4.2 (worked around it)

[heper]

updated 5 systems tonight.
all of them had issues with updating: they didn't find 2.4.2-release / they either found 2.4.0 or 2.4.1 or even only 2.3.5
i tried changing firmware branch back & forth (update/settings), but that didn't resolve the issue.

most of it was solved by doing

pkg update -f 
or
pkg-static update -f

and then updating from console
1 of the boxes didn't finish the upgrade properly: ssh to box didn't show the /etc/initial menu. after starting it manually & doing another console update it was sorted.

the old (static/full) update system was less dynamic but it sure was more stable for me. am I doing something wrong or are there issues (in some cases) with pkg-ng ?