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Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

LRBob
Aspirant

R7800 Hard Drive Options

I have been using a Netgear R7800 router for about a year and have had no issues with it.  I haven't dug into the additional features or this equipment but would like to start using it to help with backing up folders as well as using it to share pictures and videos across wifi.  That being said, here's what we have in the house:

 

My wife and I each have an iPhone

My wife has an Mac Book Pro

I occasionally bring a PC laptop home from work

We have an Roku set up in the house

My kids have an XBox they play games and stream movies/shows from.

 

From everything I've read, the ReadyShare feature is not compatable with Apple products.  Is that correct?  If It is possible to back up Apple products automatically, how does one go about doing that?

Netgear offers a list of compatable hard drives.  Since this model is older, so are the HDs listed on their site (https://kb.netgear.com/18985/Will-my-USB-drive-work-with-ReadySHARE).  I'd like a 4TB or more HD to connect, and the few that are listed there are either not available, expensive, or of lesser quality than I'd prefer.  Is there a way to verify any other option before purchasing a "better" HD?

 

Thank you for your help!

Model: R7800|Nighthawk X4S AC2600 Wifi Router
Message 1 of 21

Accepted Solutions
IrvSp
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

Good question, but I'm afraid there is no right answer or one-size-fits-all answer.

 

This is a personal choice and monetary questions actually, as well as how do you intend to use it?

 

In my case, first I already had the drives, both USB 2.0 and 3.0. They were attached to our PC's. 2 and 4TB WD's self-powered. Neither was really being used fully. That drove me to putting one on the router was I had some DVD's I ripped and put them on the drive and was sharing them from my PC to the iPad's and SmartTV. Only problem, PC had to be on all the time, so I moved that drive to the Router, made it easier for me. I also backed up from the PC's our pictures. We do make local backups on our 2 main PC's and occasionally I'll move one to the USB router drive as well. Basically the drive is used access only, and not being written to it most of the time, only rarely. It works for me at a minimum cost.

 

Many people actively use the drive it seems.  As far as I can tell, if you are going to 'actively' use the drive, a NAS is the way to go, mostly because of access write speed. Sure storage space is larger, but so is the cost.

 

I suspect on a NAS you can get better control of access as well. We do have guests and family that connect to the LAN and I've password protected the main drive and created a share for the video's anyone can use. I'd have liked to password protected them too, but many DLNA clients can't handle that.

 

Don't forget, you've got 2 USB ports  on most routers, and at least in my case I can have 2 4TB's on-line.

 

Right now, only a 2TB on the router (USB 2.0, speed is not a write concern to me), I've got about 800GB's of files, 6600 of them. Movies all ripped to other formats, 172 of them in various sizes (some small home stuff from camcorder), about 300GB's. Pictures, 6400 of them for 39GB's. The Acronis backup copies take up most of the space.

 

Right now I've got a USB 3.0 4TB drive not in use I can add if I need more space.

 

As I said, your situation might be different. If nothing else, and either you have a drive or want to spend a minimal amount, 4TB External Desktop drives are really cheap these days, might be worth a try. From your description of what you intend to do, it does sort of match mine?

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Message 4 of 21

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IrvSp
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

I can't address the Apple question if Readyshare works or not. It should work using the Router USB device for sharing without the Readyshare program as well, and I have seen other people stating they have used it if that matters.

 

As for the USB drive... that list is almost useless IMHO. First, it is only a LIST that NG Support has TESTED and known to work. Want to be sure, get one of those, but really many many more do work. There are some simple rules though, and in some cases of drives, those really do not matter. The filesystem on the routers is not a full blown filesystem, and may not be the same 'feature rich' on all routers.

 

So, basically if you stay within these constraints you should be OK...

 

  • Single Partition on drive ONLY.
  • NTFS is the best filesystem to use, although there are reports of others working, but it could be hit or miss depending on router.
  • 4TB's or smaller, but recently there have been some reports of 5TB drives working, but larger are probably not going to work.
  • Drive should be self-powered, although some portable (draws power from the USB port) do work, but to be safe use a power drive.
  • Some may only work in one port, either USB 2.0 or 3.0, but not both.

 

Message 2 of 21
LRBob
Aspirant

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

Thank you for the response, IrvSp.  

 

Do you have any thoughts on going with a NAS instead of a configuration like I originally posted?  I've been contemplating that route for awhile now.  The advantages for me would be for more storage space, which could also allow redundancy.  We will be storing mostly family pictures and videos on whichever route we go as a means to backup those files as well as share them on the home network.

Message 3 of 21
IrvSp
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

Good question, but I'm afraid there is no right answer or one-size-fits-all answer.

 

This is a personal choice and monetary questions actually, as well as how do you intend to use it?

 

In my case, first I already had the drives, both USB 2.0 and 3.0. They were attached to our PC's. 2 and 4TB WD's self-powered. Neither was really being used fully. That drove me to putting one on the router was I had some DVD's I ripped and put them on the drive and was sharing them from my PC to the iPad's and SmartTV. Only problem, PC had to be on all the time, so I moved that drive to the Router, made it easier for me. I also backed up from the PC's our pictures. We do make local backups on our 2 main PC's and occasionally I'll move one to the USB router drive as well. Basically the drive is used access only, and not being written to it most of the time, only rarely. It works for me at a minimum cost.

 

Many people actively use the drive it seems.  As far as I can tell, if you are going to 'actively' use the drive, a NAS is the way to go, mostly because of access write speed. Sure storage space is larger, but so is the cost.

 

I suspect on a NAS you can get better control of access as well. We do have guests and family that connect to the LAN and I've password protected the main drive and created a share for the video's anyone can use. I'd have liked to password protected them too, but many DLNA clients can't handle that.

 

Don't forget, you've got 2 USB ports  on most routers, and at least in my case I can have 2 4TB's on-line.

 

Right now, only a 2TB on the router (USB 2.0, speed is not a write concern to me), I've got about 800GB's of files, 6600 of them. Movies all ripped to other formats, 172 of them in various sizes (some small home stuff from camcorder), about 300GB's. Pictures, 6400 of them for 39GB's. The Acronis backup copies take up most of the space.

 

Right now I've got a USB 3.0 4TB drive not in use I can add if I need more space.

 

As I said, your situation might be different. If nothing else, and either you have a drive or want to spend a minimal amount, 4TB External Desktop drives are really cheap these days, might be worth a try. From your description of what you intend to do, it does sort of match mine?

Message 4 of 21
LRBob
Aspirant

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

You're right, it sounds like we have similar situations.  I hadn't considered using multiple 4TB HDs.  That seems rather obvious now, so thank you for that!

 

I will go that route and see how it goes.  Like you said, HDs are fairly cheap.  Likewise, if I go with a NAS in the future it doesn't hurt to have some extra backup HDs available.  Thanks again!!

Message 5 of 21
IrvSp
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options


@LRBob wrote:

You're right, it sounds like we have similar situations.  I hadn't considered using multiple 4TB HDs.  That seems rather obvious now, so thank you for that!

 

I will go that route and see how it goes.  Like you said, HDs are fairly cheap.  Likewise, if I go with a NAS in the future it doesn't hurt to have some extra backup HDs available.  Thanks again!!


OK, good, but there are some caveat's due with this. Might also apply to a NAS though.

 

Basically it is a W10 'thing'. Would be the same for any LAN sharing if you are doing that. W10 as the last Fall Creator V1703 edition has depricated SMB1. It is OFF unless you specifically enable it, and in cases, W10 will turn it off again.

 

Netgear uses NETBIOS for sharing and share discovery, and as it seems most other residential routers. Some may not and use what MS enables one to use, WSD, in its place. NG on the R8000 and other routers still use NETBIOS and will not change to WSD (at this time). If not using ANY W10 PC's, no problems, but if you are ALL must have the SMB 1 Client manually enabled. This was done as SMB 1 can be a security hazard. The WannaCry Ransomware used this 'hole' for instance. If you have up to date Security though this is not a problem now.

 

If you do not enable this on W10 you can't see the shares on PC's or possible other devices. I do have it enabled. So I have no problems seeing everything from my W10 PC.

 

===============================

C:\>net view
Server Name Remark

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\\IRV8700 Irv's 8700
\\READYSHARE readyshare
The command completed successfully.


C:\>net view \\readyshare
Shared resources at \\readyshare

readyshare

Share name Type Used as Comment

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Movies Disk read:all-no password;write:all-no password
USB_2.0_Storage Disk read:admin;write:admin
The command completed successfully.


C:\>dir \\readyshare\usb_2.0_storage
Volume in drive \\readyshare\usb_2.0_storage is USB_2.0_Storage
Volume Serial Number is 6F06-9E72

Directory of \\readyshare\usb_2.0_storage

03/16/2018 02:25 PM <DIR> $RECYCLE.BIN
05/22/2019 02:49 PM <DIR> .
01/01/2015 01:00 AM <DIR> ..
12/25/2017 12:10 PM <DIR> Acronis Backup
11/10/2016 08:23 AM 5,453,003 ATI2016_userguide_en-US.pdf
08/16/2016 05:14 PM 50,449,456 dotNetFx40_Full_x86_x64.exe
05/12/2018 01:39 PM <DIR> netgear_downloader
09/13/2018 02:55 PM 48 New Text Document.txt
06/13/2018 07:59 PM <DIR> Pictures
05/26/2018 07:28 PM 19 qc
03/05/2012 06:44 PM 1,644,118 SeagateExpansion.ico
01/13/2016 10:00 PM 611,096 seatools-for-windows-en-us.pdf
05/12/2018 11:25 AM <DIR> share
05/12/2018 01:37 PM <DIR> System Volume Information
01/14/2016 11:47 AM <DIR> VProRecovery
6 File(s) 58,157,740 bytes
9 Dir(s) 1,208,284,282,880 bytes free

==================

See screen capture on left of how I set it up...

 

Message 6 of 21

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

Posted a question elsewhere, but found this post/reply.  Took your device and reformatted to NTFS.  The good news . . . the R7000 'found' the HD connected to the front of the unit.  The bad news . . . after about 10 seconds it disappeared.

Within the R7000 web page,  ADVANCED>USB FUNTIONS>ReadySHARE Storage I HAD a line under "Available Network Storage" for, I think, 'T-drive.'  That's the drive that disappeard.

If I select "Create Network Folder" I get "No Disk."  What now?

 

Message 7 of 21
LRBob
Aspirant

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

Thanks for the heads up.  I've enabled the SMB1 now before I forget!

 

Looks like I'll be trying out a WD 4TB Elements Desktop HD (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ODEGWN8/ref=twister_B07HGRPHSK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) to see if that works.  I searched the comments for "readyshare" and one customer stated it worked for another NetGear model, so I'm hoping it will work for mine as well.

 

Thank you for your help!

Message 8 of 21
myersw
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options


@LRBob wrote:

Thank you for the response, IrvSp.  

 

Do you have any thoughts on going with a NAS instead of a configuration like I originally posted?  I've been contemplating that route for awhile now.  The advantages for me would be for more storage space, which could also allow redundancy.  We will be storing mostly family pictures and videos on whichever route we go as a means to backup those files as well as share them on the home network.


If I had things like photos that I did not want to loose then I would go with a NAS solution. While the router will support a HD on USB there is no redundancy, so if the drive fails, unless you are also making another copy somewhere you have lost things if the drive fails. I started down the HD on USB path then switched to a Synology NAS with mirrored drives. More expensive solution, but better protection of things you do not want to lose. 

Message 9 of 21
LRBob
Aspirant

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

Thanks for that info as well.  I think I'm eventually headed towards a NAS, but I'm going to start with the external HD option for now.  We are cable cutters, so we stream from various sources, mainly Netflix, on a Roku and an Xbox.  The NAS would also allow us to stream more content, which would be a nice option in the future.  For now, though, I'll go with the HD and see how that goes.

Message 10 of 21
LRBob
Aspirant

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

As a followup to my plan moving forward, I ordered a WD 4TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive (Model # WDBWLG0040HBK-NESN) and it connected to my router just fine.  I was able to connect easily using my wife's Mac.  Thanks to all that helped with my situation!

 

 

Message 11 of 21
myersw
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

Glad you have a solution you are happy with. Yippy on the MAC connecting without issue. They can be finicky, have a MAC Pro.  

Message 12 of 21
LRBob
Aspirant

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

Bill - I've been looking more into the NAS and am definitely intrigued.  I don't have any experience with them, though.  Do you have any recommendations on where to go to read the basics about them?  

Message 13 of 21

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

One easy (I hope) followup.  Any way to remove the password requirement for the HD?

Message 14 of 21
schumaku
Guru

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options


@required_alias wrote:

One easy (I hope) followup.  Any way to remove the password requirement for the HD?


The Netgear routers allow the configuration of for ReadySHARE "Read-only - no password" or "Read/Write - no password".... the point is that Microsoft does enforce the need of authentication for shared folder access on newer WIndows versions and builds - so no more "guest" access without credentials -  the workarounds published in the network are deprecated, so I wont provide details or links.

Message 15 of 21
IrvSp
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options


@required_alias wrote:

One easy (I hope) followup.  Any way to remove the password requirement for the HD?


Not remove it, but work around it, at least on Windows. Open the CREDENTIAL MANAGER (in Control Panel), then WINDOWS CREDENTIALS. Then create on for your Router's IP Address. See screen capture on left. It is really Windows trying to connect to the router itself. 'admin' will always be the User Name, and unless you changed the router password, it will be 'password'.

Message 16 of 21
schumaku
Guru

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

Yes @IrvSp ... unfortuantely there is - approaching mid 2019 - no other choice than using admin ... like root was abouse 20 years ago in the U**x world.

Message 17 of 21
IrvSp
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

@schumaku, yeah, but at this time in NG's coding expertise I'd rather they not mess with changing that... I can just seem them changing the code to allow you to use what you want for a UserID and then once released NO ONE can log onto the router's 🙂

Message 18 of 21

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options

ummer.  That means I wasted all this time on my USB HD adventure.

Message 19 of 21
myersw
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options


@IrvSp wrote:

@schumaku, yeah, but at this time in NG's coding expertise I'd rather they not mess with changing that... I can just seem them changing the code to allow you to use what you want for a UserID and then once released NO ONE can log onto the router's 🙂


One more time lack of testing and QA raises it's ugly head. Netgear is such a steaming pile of you know what right now and has been for months back. 

 

Video with David Henry is such a joke. Senior VP of Connected Home.  According to him you configure and forget put on shelf and forget, never to be touched after initial configuration. Not sure what he is smoking. He obviously has not been following the forums. Probably kept in a closet and brought out to shill the next "big" product. 

 

Totally agree with being able to change the user ID. Make things more secure. DD-WRT has had this feature for years. 

Message 20 of 21
IrvSp
Master

Re: R7800 Hard Drive Options


@myersw wrote:

@IrvSp wrote:

@schumaku, yeah, but at this time in NG's coding expertise I'd rather they not mess with changing that... I can just seem them changing the code to allow you to use what you want for a UserID and then once released NO ONE can log onto the router's 🙂


One more time lack of testing and QA raises it's ugly head. Netgear is such a steaming pile of you know what right now and has been for months back. 


I did NOT say this happened, I only made a comment, with today's reliability and quality control of NG's firmware, IF they did implement that change what MIGHT be fubar'ed the way they do things now.

Message 21 of 21
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