I'm getting ready to upgrade my ReadNAS NV+ v1 with a new NAS. Although my NV+ has been fairly reliable, it's performance is dog slow and I've finally had enough. As a result, I've decided to upgrade to a brand new NAS. At the time, nearly 5 years ago, Netgear owned the market when in came to SOHO NAS. Today, the landscape has become much more crowded and there are some great competitors out there. I'm really impressed with the offerings from Synology and Drobo--specifically the DS413, DS412+, and the new Drobo 5N. I'm even more impressed with each company's software.
Having said that, before I bail on Netgear I want to try to get some insight as to why I should stick with this platform as opposed to one of Netgear's competitors. I'd also like a recommendation on which Netgear product is comparable to the three I mentioned. I'll be using this in an Apple network with some PC access. Thanks in advance for your help.
So I was in your position about a year or so ago. I had the original Infrant NV and I still have it and it still works. The only reason I upgraded from it was it has been working so well for 5+ years that I was worried one day it will die. I almost went with Synology and the reason I stayed with ReadyNAS was two things. I couldn't find a local dealer that sold Synology for me to look at it and two I had no issues with ReadyNas and there forum had been awesome. I do feel sad about this forum and the support lately though, kind of makes me wonder about the future of ReadyNAS.
I have a dead ReadyNas NV currently and due to resync issues I think I lost all my data. I had some help from someone on the forum but I think the problem is more than they wanted to handle (don't blame them, they aren't getting paid). So I'm pretty sure I'm going to put my new disks into a Synology 1512+. I've had on and off problems with the ReadyNas for the last couple of years and I think the Synology will be much faster and have more support.
I just placed my order for a new Synology 1512+ from amazon.com. It took me about a week to finally convince myself to spend $800. The funny thing is I think I paid about that much for my NV+ five years ago. I'm really looking forward to fast speeds and low frustration. I really appreciate all of the help some of the old Netgear guys provided, which seems to be sorely lacking these days from the new regime. Now time to post my NV+ v1 on eBay. Maybe I'll see some of you guys on the Synology forums. 🙂
Same boat - went out and pushed ReadyNAS to my customers and friends and they all bought Sparc (Duo, NV+, 11000 etc). Now I'm getting requests for 'which model should I upgrade to' and I cannot in good faith recommend Netgear. I've been stalling left and right, waiting for some movement that makes me feel like an Ultra 4 or Pro would be a good way to go - but they are fast becoming 'old'. From a hardware but mostly from a software standpoint the ReadyNAS line just doesn't instill confidence that Netgear is making development and support a priority. Say all you want about corporate policy or politics with regard beta testing and forum communication - nothing appears to be happening and Netgear is OK with this. I'm sure the Jedi / Netgear support personnel that remain are doing their best but they aren't even training the new ones (it seems). Is there no margin in the NAS market? No pride or self respect? Of late forum members appear to be better at supporting the ReadyNAS than Netgear.
One post by someone in charge would do wonders for the ReadyNAS reputation right now. One post. Simply reaffirm your commitment to support. Throw us a bone regarding some new product we haven't heard about yet. Tell us you will open up the beta program and let us help you make the product better. Something, ANYTHING that lets us know you still give a damn.
Involve the ReadyNAS community and do it quickly or - as you can see - soon, there will be nobody left.
I couldn't agree with you more. The bad thing is I truly believe that Netgear makes a quality product—hardware wise. But, as you've stated, they really need to get more involved with their existing client base. I think a lot of the Star Wars tech guys have moved on to other companies, which is a real shame because Netgear has no idea how valuable those employees were. There are some things you just don't see on a performance review and that was one of them. I also agree that Netgear NAS software is sorely lagging. In fact, upon review of the Synology platform, and their accompanying software and plug ins, it looks like they are a company that has been around for decades. Strange that they're just coming to light.
On another note, Synology needs to learn this lesson as well. I've noticed that they're not as involved in their own community forums as well. 🙂
And we come to the crux of this whole thing - you hit the nail on the head, other companies did not have the forum and user involvement the ReadyNAS line had. Where else do you get what feels like a secret back door to the core group of people that actually created the product you use? People who know it inside and out? As Chirpa alluded to in another thread Netgear markets their product in ways that suggest it possesses certain features, features that exist because 'third party' developers took it upon themselves to contribute code - in the same way they reaped the benefit of selling their product in part based on the laurels of the forum. I know I decided on ReadyNAS because of this forum - I despise calling tech support (not specifically Netgear, any tech support) as it usually takes way too long to get to someone that can really help. Taking into account any problem I have has most probably been had elsewhere first I've always looked at the internet as my first line of support. The forum enabled users to reach good help fast, on their time. If Netgear no longer values this forum then by extension they no longer value my business. I see reports of the site being unreachable, documents not being updated or even created in the first place and the lack of direction from anyone in a position to do so as an admission from Netgear the forum now holds less value.
