@armor, we are on the same page so to speak!
I have just confirmed for myself that SoftAP is operational in Listening Mode and that without the DIY pages, it does not do much. You live and learn.
So it seems that the implementation of the DIY HTML pages can be a cause of memory grief, not the underlying SoftAP mechanism itself.
Anyhow, back to @dan.s’s issue - this may be related: Comm.protocol Event Loop error 24.
Would be real interesting @dan.s if you take on @armor’s (implied) advice and try DeviceOS 2.0.0-rc.4. Does this resolve your issue?