Orbi and NAS vs. R7000P and USB Network Drive

[Network42]

First post by new member.  I currently use a Time Capsule for wifi and about 600GB of Time Machine backups from three Macs, plus a USB drive plugged into the Time Capsule for about 150GB of shared files that are acessible to all of our computers.  Each computer works directly with the shared files, but I use Carbon Copy Cloner to do an updated backup of the shared files on each computer each time the USB network drive is mounted.  I also have portable hard drive CCC backups for each computer.

We have a two floor, 3,000 sf home.  Our bedroom is separated from our time capsule by our brick fireplace and the cemment block chimney behind it.  I have a 50' ethernet cable strung from the Time Capsule to an Airport Express base station in our bedroom.  

Our wifi setup works OK, but sometimes it seems a bit slow or unresponsive.  Since the Apple gear cannot be replaced in the future, I am considering going to either an Orbi RBK50 and a Synogogy DS218+ with 2 2TB drives in Raid 1 or a Netgear R7000P and a single 2TB USB network drive.  

I have heard good things about Orbi, especially in the RBK50 setup, but I am concerned the Synology NAS may be overkill since we do not stream music or video and we would only use the NAS for Time Machine backups and shared files.  I am wondering if the DS218+ would really improve our performance or if it would just be one more thing to maintain, troubleshoot, and possibly break.  

If I want to stick with a simple USB network drive I am driven to the R7000P, since the Orbi will not support a USB network drive.  With the R7000P I could even use two USB drives, like my present Time Capsule setup.  I wonder if the R7000P would cover our bedroom without a range extender, but I could start w/o an extender and see how it works.

I would appreciate comments and advice from experienced forum members!

[FURRYe38]

Over all any NAS thats network connected will have best berformances over USB. LAN connected devices benefit from the wired 1Gb performances. USB is good however has been known to be a bottle neck. Also LAN doesn't need drivers for making connections. Fairly plug in play and easy to work with. 

Orbi desn't support USB connected drives at this time. Been users asking about it. Nothing seen from NG. I prefer NAS and network connected storage for streaming. I have a 5000sq ft home. Orbi router at one end and 40 feet at the other is a satellite. DISH Hopper and 3 Joeys, all LAN connected. NAS behind the Orbi router. Zero problems in streaming anything. 

I believe the Orbi has much better wifi range and performance than the 7 series router. Also the 7 series router is just dual band and no mesh. While Orbi is tri band and MESH. Yes the 3rd radio is only used for wireless back haul even if you wire connect a satellite. However you get better range and flexibility with an Orbi system. 

[Network42]

FURRYe38,

Thanks for your perspective.  I am leaning toward the Orbi/NAS setup.

I have wanted to try NAS for a while.  My online research indicates the Orbi/NAS should work well, but the more I read various forum comments I see a minority of people who say the Orbi does not work for them, or even that the Nighthawk R7000P does not work for them.  I'm inclined to go with the mainline reviews, recognizing there will always be a few people, hopefully not including me, who have problems with any particular setup. 

[FURRYe38]

There are others who have had good experiences as well. Yes there are some with problems however some of us have helped other get there sytems working well. 

Find a place that has a good refund policy, amazon does and you get try one out. If it's not to your liking, then you have the option to return it. 

I got my friends Orbi system runnign well, zero issues. 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-firmware-update-v2-1-4-16-availability/m-p/1592753/highli...

if you use a external ethernet switch, be sure its a non managed, non green feature supporing switch. 

Let us now how it goes.