Seagate STAM2000200 2TB FreeAgent GoFlex Wireless Home NAS

[Update: I have increased the star rating to 3, now that Seagate have released a firmware update that fixes the speed issues. The other issues remain, however.]

We needed a simple, no-frills NAS to store backups on a home network. The GoFlex appeared to fit the bill and at a good price, too.
After using it for a week, the only reason I am not sending back is that it works (in the sense that it limps along), so I cannot reject it outright as faulty.

So, what is wrong with it?
What isn't?

Having read about the issues with the bundled software, I decided to configure the unit directly, through its web interface. What could go wrong? The language, that's what. If you don't use the bundled software, the GoFlex unit self-configures with the assumption that you must be from US. Result? The web interface does not work, because your Windows language (UK English) conflicts with the language that GoFlex expects (US English). (GoFlex web interface is written in Flash.)
What does Seagate support say about that? 'Email us your account name, user name and password and we'll look into it.'
Email the credentials of a disc unit accessible from the internet? A disc unit that holds personal data? From a security point of view, you might as well print a few thousand copies and hand them to passers-by.

In the end, I reset the GoFlex, installed the bundled software and configured it from scratch.
(There is no option to install only parts of the software. Everything gets installed, including the Memeo backup, which I didn't really want.)
At least, the configuration worked and the web interface became available, so that I could access the unit from other machines with Firefox and without the Seagate software. Good job, too. Five minutes later, my machine experienced its first blue screen crash in two years. And then another. And another. The rumours are correct: Memeo and GoFlex Control Centre software don't like 64-bit Windows 7. No more BSDs after I uninstalled the Seagate software, so we know the guilty party. Unfortunately, the BSDs managed to corrupt a couple of large local files I was copying to the GoFlex for testing. Software that can corrupt read-only files is evil.

(Both of these problems have been labelled by Seagate support as 'Microsoft Windows issues' -- that is, they are Microsoft's fault. At least they didn't blame it on an Act Of God.)

To configure the unit, one needs to allow it to connect to Seagate's servers. I really didn't like that. Why should a HDD unit need to connect to the internet for config? (Verifying Memeo licenses and Seagate's need to sell us upgrades to the software. That's why.)
And the unit then gets configured by default to be accessible over the internet. Again, a really bad decision.
(I know, a selling point of the unit is the ability to share across the internet, but surely that should not be forced on someone who does not want it?)

Performance using Windows Explorer is appalling, too. Copying large files to the unit works at a snail's pace: 2 to 2.5 MB per second. And small files are slower yet. As a comparison, an ordinary mobile USB2 drive or bottom of the range Synology NAS enclosure will write at 20 MB per second or more.
The problem is probably with GoFlex's SMB implementation, since reading files back from the unit works at 40-60 MB a second, and Acronis TrueImage can happily transfer backups to the GoFlex at a respectable 20-22 MB per second.
(Ah, I am sorry. That, too, apparently is a Microsoft Windows problem.)
[Update: Interestingly, Seagate have just released a firmware update, which increased the writing speed to 27-28 Mb/sec for large files. They have never accepted that there was a problem; the firmware release notes make no mention of speed issues; but now, it runs fast enough to beat most portable USB2 HDDs. Seagate seems to be adopting Apple's tight-lip approach to problem management. Oh dear.]

Other annoyances:

- 5 user and machine limit, unless one pays extra for a software upgrade. That's just a mercenary approach. Connecting too many users or computers would quickly overwhelm the GoFlex anyway, so why try to enforce artificial limits?

- Our three year old 3Com gigabit switch falls back to 100 Mb connections after sustained transfers to the GoFlex. Disconnecting and reconnecting the affected PC solves the problem. I will try a newer NetGear switch and see what happens.
[Update: The same thing has been happening with a Netgear switch. It forces me to reboot the switch regularly. The firmware patch, which increased the GoFlex's writing speed, has actually made this problem even worse.]

In short, a piece of hardware that could have worked really well if Seagate had not bundled it with substandard software and unnecessary limitations. My fault for not checking Seagate's forums before buying it.

The only reason it gets two stars instead of one is that Acronis TrueImage manages to make it somehow usable.

Simply does not work properly and nothing like Seagate promise. Unreliable, slow and frustrating. Unless you have a high level of technical understanding like Karabash below you are likely to have problems and even he could not make it do what it says it should. Avoid, there must be better out there.

This product has a complicated network interface that is probably well suitable for windows but requires a lot of work to make it work with Mac and linux. The product is poorly designed and I cannot recommend it to Mac/linux users.