However, it spontaneously reboots after several days and when it does, it often does not recognize the attached USB hard drive

I have it wedged between two hard drives to keep it in position.

By the way, the issue with not recognizing the hard drive seems to be a long standing one with NetGear modems.5/14/2018Amazon sent me a replacement NETGEAR Nighthawk router

However, after a day or longer, it either no longer sees an attached USB hard drive or it states that readyshare is ready, when, in fact, the hard drive is not accessible

I was told that upon rebooting after this reset, the new drivers would be downloaded and there would no longer be the USB hard drive issue

This requires further reboots, until ultimately, it sees the hard drive

Feels good to finally ditchethe equipment rental fee :D!