Review on Zyxel NAS326: Personal Cloud Storage [2-Bay] with Remote Access & Media Streaming – Disks Not Included by Kelly Gonzalez

I know this is a long review but bear with me... So here's the real deal with the Zyxel NAS 326. Lots of mixed reviews here; Some users had bad experiences, others good ones, so let me tell you about them. This is a decent, feature-rich, entry-level NAS. It's a good value considering its performance (excellent value for money). It supports hard drives up to 8TB (see compatibility list on Zyxel website) configured as RAID 1 (redundancy - max 8TB), RAID 0 (no redundancy but with access to the total capacity of both drives - max 0.16 TB) are configured. or JBOD (Just a Bunch of Drives) which means you can mix and match different HDs, but they will be just that and behave like independent drives. Take some time to figure out how you want to set up your drives before you start writing to them. Zyxel may have had some issues with one of their firmware updates (according to Amazon reviews), but they continue to release updates (last at the time of this review was May 12, 2017), indicating that they continue to support the product. This is a huge plus in my opinion considering the product has been out for over a year and many manufacturers are dropping support for products after a short while, especially entry-level products (like Android phones). As with all computing/networking devices, there are many variables. when it comes to performance; B. the hard drive you use, the capabilities and performance of your network and the capabilities and performance of your computer. For example, file transfer to my 8 year old laptop is slower than my new laptop, and when I'm connected to a wireless network, it's much faster when I'm in the same room as my wireless router, and gets significantly slower, when it's me on the other side. At home. File types also play a big role; A single 6GB video will be transferred much faster than a 6GB folder filled with 1000 files or files as it requires a lot more processing on both ends of the file transfer. Perfect operation and preparation with the latest firmware (V.521(AAZF.0)CO). Performance is very good, transferring a single 6GB video file at up to 105MB/s via wired and up to 70MB/s via WiFi (your mileage will be very high). The manual is very complete and comprehensive (350+ pages) so you can really get to know this device well if you decide to spend time with it. Some say they have trouble setting up the NAS, but I haven't had any problems. My NAS was returned in an open box, so I performed a factory reset (press the reset button on the back for 15 seconds or 3 beeps), downloaded and installed the Zyxel NAS starter utility (you can just start your network browse and use a web browser for connect), waited for the device to reboot and a single beep, and the utility found it. Log in, update firmware, set up drives and you're good to go. I haven't delved into many of its "advertising marketing" features as I only needed file sharing for my local network, so I can't comment on that. on how well they work or how easy or difficult it is to set them up. If you're looking for a simple, affordable NAS for file sharing, device backup, with RAID capabilities and good performance, this one should be on your shortlist. Let's say it's an entry-level NAS (even for home use). If you regularly need multiple power users to access the device simultaneously, you should consider something else and be prepared to pay for it. Don't get me wrong, it can connect multiple users at the same time, but in my experience a single large file transfer consumes 100% of CPU resources. So I'm sure performance suffers when multiple users are transferring large files at the same time.*** For full disclosure, I bought mine "used" or for less than half the listed retail price from Revain's inventory returned to a customer.