Time Machine does not recognize USB drives connected to RAX200

Good news, bad news. The good news is that I am now able to use Time Machine again. The bad news is that it will only work under the previous firmware version issues in September, 2021. The latest version released on April 22, 2022 has removed the recognition of the AFP path that is necessary for Time Machine to recognize that a drive is present.

So for all you Mac users out there who want to use the two USB 3.0 ports on the RAX200 to back up your iMac or Macbook using Time Machine, you'll have to downgrade to V1.0.5.132_1.0.69 and forever keep to that version. Then you can use the path "afp://RAX200._afpovertp._tcp.local" to connect to the server. After that, Time Machine will recognize all USB drives connected to the RAX200 router. Unfortunately, you cannot get any important security updates after that. For me. the risk of data loss is the greater of two evils.

Like quite a few other frustrated Mac users who have commented here, I just don't understand how Netgear can issue an "upgraded" firmware that removes critical functionality. Does anyone check? Or maybe there just isn't enough of us to matter. In any case, I won't forget this when the time comes to upgrade to a new router. And you can bet it won't be a Netgear product. 

Thank you Plemans (especially) for pointing me in the right direction during the troubleshooting. At least now I can use Apple's back-up system.