R8500 Firmware Version 1.0.2.156 breaks afp / Mac Time Machine backups

[R8500GRT]

Upgraded to 1.0.2.156 firmware and subsequently noticed Mac Time Machine backups no longer working.  Downgraded to 1.0.2.154 firmware and Mac Time Machine backups resumed.

[alex-customer]

I have the same router, and the same problem. However, when I downgraded to 1.0.2.154, I now couldn't connect from the MacBook with a different error message: "There was a problem connecting to the server" with detail "The version of the server you are trying to connect to is not supported. Please contact your system administrator to resolve the problem."

This is from a 13" MacBook Air M1 running macOS Monterey 12.1.

[alex-customer]

I've done some further research and macOS has discontinued Time Machine's support for HFS+ filesystems (that Netgear ReadyShare supports) and the AFP protocol (that Netgear ReadyShare supports). Time Machine (since Big Sur) requires the APFS filesystem for Time Machine, which Netgear ReadyShare doesn't support, so this will not work with current-version Macs.

Time for a new router that supports modern Time Machine.