Pairing a remote on WiFi Selection screen

My friend gave me his Fire TV 4K. He decided to complicate things for me a bit, as I thinks he reset it (he's not sure), and then lost the remote. I managed to get a remote (with TV controls on it - it's the 2018 2nd gen remote - looks the same as the one he had).

So I plugged in the Fire TV, it turned on and the first screen I saw after the logo is the "Select your Network" screen. I tried to pair the remote so I can select the network -

-by holding the home button

-by holding the home and center buttons

-by doing the whole reset shebang

Nada. Zilch. Nista. The remote blinks orange in the first two instances, first slowly and then faster. I kept it practically on top of the Firestick, to reduce the distance.

Now, I'm stuck - the remote does not pair on this screen. I also tried using LAN (I have the adapter), but that got me one screen further (Sign in to your account or register an account). Still no pairing.

Tried changing my wifi name to match what he has at home - no joy there either. I'm gonna go to his place next week, but was wondering if there might be something I missed?