Netgear ReadyNAS 202

Published on 03 May 2019 2 mins reading time Categories: Network

The Netgear ReadyNAS 202 ($298.99) is an economical, two-bay, network-attached storage (NAS) device that provides file sharing and backups over your home network. It’s capable of speedy file transfers, and it’s certainly powerful enough to stream your music and videos.

It also lets you set up a personal cloud, so you can access your files over the Internet from apps for Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, as well as using a browser on your PC. The ReadyNAS 202 represents a good combination of convenience, speed, and value. As such, it is our Editors’ Choice for consumer/SOHO NAS devices.

The ReadyNAS 202 is sold diskless, so you’ll have to buy one or two NAS-optimized hard drives for the unit. I installed a pair of 6TB Hitachi Deskstar NAS drives in a RAID 1 array, which gave me a total of 6TB of protected storage for my testing, and they cost an extra $600.

Unlike most NAS enclosures, the ReadyNAS 202 is designed for quick drive installation and replacement. The two drive sleds are tool-less, which means you don’t need a screwdriver. Just pop in an HDD using a pair of permanently-attached retracting rails built into each sled, and it automatically locks to the sled. The sleds can then slide home, and you can start your setup.

Setting the NAS up was easy in testing. All I had to do was plug the ReadyNAS 202 into my router, turn it on, and visit Netgear’s ReadyNAS website on my test laptop. The website then connected to the ReadyNAS device on my LAN. I created a ReadyCloud account online when prompted, Netgear paired the NAS to my account, and then my NAS was ready to use.

Overall, the Netgear ReadyNAS 202 is a top-notch consumer NAS that’s primed to back up your files and grant access to them from your PC or mobile device. It works seamlessly on your home network, and is easily accessible over the Internet via the ReadyCloud account and app. And the ReadyNAS 202 offers similar performance and hardware features as our former top pick for consumer/SOHO NAS, the QNAP TS-251, but for $100 less, so it’s our new Editors’ Choice.