Chances are Nintendo are keeping tabs on who has contacted their servers and legitimately obtained the update, this will be how they pay MS for the license. Whether they use that information for banning purposes is an unknown at this point.
I updated my Switch from 4.0.1 to 4.1.0 offline using a game cart and it works fine.
IMO this is the easiest method as once you've confirmed the cart has the right update you just press a couple of buttons
I would seriously consider sticking with stock FW for now as there is a chance you may ban the console. Nintendo are getting pretty tough with bans now and your kids probably won't thank you when they can't play online anymore.
Some people are having more luck than others in avoiding bans but I...
It can yes, for example when you perform a NAND backup using an exFAT formatted card it is able to dump a full backup regardless of whether you have the Horizon update.
I bought a second Switch to be able to choose both online & Homebrew and haven't touch my "legit" switch in ages! The only reason I'm keeping it is for Pokemon and Smash but when N start charging next month it will be hard to justify paying for it.
The Switch displays a panic code (Colour) when it detects an issue. Depending on the shade of blue this could be a few different errors but you can check them out on http://switchbrew.org/index.php?title=Panic_codes
The only way to really know if your device works is by sending a payload. If the Switch won't accept the payload then you're most likely using a patched unit.
People have been using CDNSP to obtain games directly from Non for a while now. This is illegal as it essentially decrypts the NSP file and Sig patches enable installation on CFW.
Yes, the exploit requires tethered execution by means of injecting the payload from either a computer/phone/SX Dongle ect
.xci is the main difference with SX Pro as it's the only way of loading them. This will no doubt change eventually.
If we're talking about the SX Pro then the main advantages are .xci support and the dongle which makes it a portable solution. You can get around the portable aspect by using NX Loader but .xci loading is yet to be supported by anyone else.
@The Real Jdbye, I thought about that and I have blank DVD's and Blurays but honestly after like 90 songs I just listen to it a couple of hundred times toss it out and burn something else or have like 2-3 CD's. Florida here the heat in the car tends to ruin the CD's after like a few months even commercial pressed ones don't last too long.