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RAXE500 using readyshare cause router to malfunction and causes PC net adapter to give weird errors
firmware version: Firmware Version V1.0.10.86_2.0.40 I have a new RAXE500 that i have hooked a USB 3.0 4Tb drive upto for use in backing up my PC. I am able to access the drive over the network t...
The RAXE500 can use drives larger than 2TB, and it has been that way for many older Netgear routers as well.
For many of those guides, it is hard to tell what they are basing the limitations on when trying to make more of a one size fits all solution. For drives that get their power from the USB port, capacities can impact power consumption, different routers can have different amounts of power available at the USB port. Many of the USB storage issues mainly applied to older drives, for example, non-standard 2.5 inch HDDs where they may double the number of platters and get them much thicker than normal, along with needing more than 1 amp. If such a drive is in a USB only powered enclosure, then some lower end routers will not deliver enough power to run them.
For example, a Netgear router designed around the use of a 12V 1.5 amp supply, will not give you USB ports that will deliver 10 watts, but they may do a max of 5 watts.
If using an external drive that has its own power supply, then USB output doesn't matter anymore.
As for storage size, the largest I tried was an 8TB WD red drive on a USB 3.0 SATA dock that has its own separate power supply, though I ultimately ended up replacing the 8TB drive with a 2TB SATA WD blue SSD, for silent operation, as well as faster performance, especially when copying over lots of tiny files.
Ideally, it would be good if Netgear would just list the max output of the USB port on each router.
I am using a Seagate Backup+ Desktop 4Tb drive. The list provided by Netgear has the drive listed as compatible for many of their more recent routers, such as the RAX80, RAX120 and RAX200. This is as close (but not really) to the RAXE500 the list has. The drive is also listed as compatible form my WNDR4700 which is the oldest router i have. oddly the list shows the R8000 router, and other Rx000P models, but not the R8000P model. so, its compatibility list is also unknown (the R8000P was the last router i owned, which also threw a fit when i plugged in the drive into that router.)
The drive I use does not function without having the power supply plugged in, so USB power supply issues are not relevant to me.
the link to the list is here: https://kb.netgear.com/18985/Which-USB-drives-are-verified-to-work-with-NETGEAR-ReadySHARE
here, once again, is the drive requirements for some of their most recent routers: https://kb.netgear.com/24059/What-are-the-USB-drive-requirements-for-ReadySHARE-on-my-NETGEAR-router?language=en_US