Hi Mike. The LG technician came out and to his opinion it was a certain part that needs to be replaced.
Actually he came today😀 and replaced the FFC cable - a 5 minute job. Since replacement, I could pair my remote successfully and link the TV to Wifi again. No annoying toggle messages at top of screen also. I am streaming Netflix and YouTube to see about the buffering issue, and so far there is no issue. Although a bit soon to tell for sure, but it seems to have fixed my problems. The TV is a 2017 model. Maybe you should consider doing the same.