WOMBATS Shield vs Synology — private storage without the homework.
If you want a storage platform — drive bays, RAID, surveillance recording, add-on packages to grow into — buy a Synology and enjoy it. If you want the family’s photos and movies sorted in one box that also protects your network, that’s Shield Edge and Vault, with Mac backups on Vault.
The 30-day home trial for AU & NZ households: if Shield isn't right for your home, send it back — prepaid label, full refund.
Choose WOMBATS Shield if…
…storage is a means, not a hobby. On Shield Edge (with your own USB drive) and Vault, the photos and files safe and the movies on the TV; on Vault, the Macs backed up too, on a built-in drive that’s encrypted, with encryption switched on when you first set up the drive. The same box quietly filters every device in the house. One decision, about fifteen minutes, done.
Choose Synology if…
…storage is the destination. You want RAID redundancy, room to grow, surveillance recording and add-on packages — a platform to run and expand over the years. That’s what Synology builds, and it does it very well.
A platform versus an outcome.
What a family usually wants from a NAS is a short list: the phone photos somewhere safe, the Macs backed up, and the movies playing on the TV without a cloud login. Shield Edge (with your own USB drive) and Vault cover the photos, documents and a media library the TV can stream; Vault adds Time Machine backups. And the same box is the family’s network protection: every Shield blocks ads, trackers, adult content and phishing for every device, with SafeSearch and parental controls.
Side by side.
What it is
- WOMBATS Shield
- A family appliance: network protection on every model, with private storage on Edge and Vault
- Synology NAS
- A storage platform: NAS systems running its DSM operating system, which you extend with add-on packages
Choosing one
- WOMBATS Shield
- One of three Shields
- Synology NAS
- Its site offers a NAS Selector that recommends a model, and a RAID Calculator that starts with choosing drives
Setup
- WOMBATS Shield
- About fifteen minutes, from your browser, with your modem’s admin login
- Synology NAS
- Choose the drives, create storage with the RAID type you pick (such as SHR, RAID 5 or RAID 6), then set up DSM and the packages you want
Encryption
- WOMBATS Shield
- Shield Vault: the built-in drive is encrypted (AES-256), with encryption switched on when you first set up the drive; the key is burned into the board’s own one-time-programmable silicon. On Shield Edge, a drive you add yourself is yours to encrypt
- Synology NAS
- Shared-folder encryption (AES-256) and volume encryption, set up and managed by you, with Key Manager
Photos, documents and Mac backups
- WOMBATS Shield
- Shield Edge (on your own USB drive) and Vault: shared folders every device in the house can open (SMB). Shield Vault: Time Machine backups for Macs
- Synology NAS
- Yes — file storage, with Time Machine for Macs (over SMB or AFP), set up by you
Media to the TV
- WOMBATS Shield
- Shield Edge and Vault: streaming to your TV (Jellyfin, DLNA), with no cloud login
- Synology NAS
- Yes — its Media Server package streams to devices on your network (DLNA)
Network protection and parental controls
- WOMBATS Shield
- Every Shield: ads, trackers, adult content and phishing blocked, SafeSearch and app blocking for the whole house, and per-device pause and schedules. Edge and Vault add filtering, SafeSearch and app blocking per device. Apps built to stay online, TikTok and Meta's among them, are closed on their main route and their backup routes
- Synology NAS
- Not what a NAS does — Synology sells Wi-Fi routers, separately, with parental controls
Travel Wi-Fi
- WOMBATS Shield
- Your own filtered Wi-Fi in hotels: Edge over a cable; Vault cable-free, even on networks with a login page
- Synology NAS
- Not offered on a NAS
Scale
- WOMBATS Shield
- Sized for a family: 256 GB built into Vault, with 1, 2 or 4 TB optional — or your own USB drive on Edge. No bays and no RAID to plan
- Synology NAS
- Built to scale well past a family: many RAID types, and volumes up to 1 PiB
Where it’s from
- WOMBATS Shield
- Designed and engineered in Australia; AUD pricing with GST included; a 30-day home trial for AU & NZ households; a 12-month warranty plus Australian Consumer Law; security updates until at least 31 december 2029
- Synology NAS
- A Taiwanese company (Synology Inc., New Taipei), founded in 2000; its Australian site points buyers to partners and resellers
| Feature | WOMBATS Shield | Synology NAS |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A family appliance: network protection on every model, with private storage on Edge and Vault | A storage platform: NAS systems running its DSM operating system, which you extend with add-on packages |
| Choosing one | One of three Shields | Its site offers a NAS Selector that recommends a model, and a RAID Calculator that starts with choosing drives |
| Setup | About fifteen minutes, from your browser, with your modem’s admin login | Choose the drives, create storage with the RAID type you pick (such as SHR, RAID 5 or RAID 6), then set up DSM and the packages you want |
| Encryption | Shield Vault: the built-in drive is encrypted (AES-256), with encryption switched on when you first set up the drive; the key is burned into the board’s own one-time-programmable silicon. On Shield Edge, a drive you add yourself is yours to encrypt | Shared-folder encryption (AES-256) and volume encryption, set up and managed by you, with Key Manager |
| Photos, documents and Mac backups | Shield Edge (on your own USB drive) and Vault: shared folders every device in the house can open (SMB). Shield Vault: Time Machine backups for Macs | Yes — file storage, with Time Machine for Macs (over SMB or AFP), set up by you |
| Media to the TV | Shield Edge and Vault: streaming to your TV (Jellyfin, DLNA), with no cloud login | Yes — its Media Server package streams to devices on your network (DLNA) |
| Network protection and parental controls | Every Shield: ads, trackers, adult content and phishing blocked, SafeSearch and app blocking for the whole house, and per-device pause and schedules. Edge and Vault add filtering, SafeSearch and app blocking per device. Apps built to stay online, TikTok and Meta's among them, are closed on their main route and their backup routes | Not what a NAS does — Synology sells Wi-Fi routers, separately, with parental controls |
| Travel Wi-Fi | Your own filtered Wi-Fi in hotels: Edge over a cable; Vault cable-free, even on networks with a login page | Not offered on a NAS |
| Scale | Sized for a family: 256 GB built into Vault, with 1, 2 or 4 TB optional — or your own USB drive on Edge. No bays and no RAID to plan | Built to scale well past a family: many RAID types, and volumes up to 1 PiB |
| Where it’s from | Designed and engineered in Australia; AUD pricing with GST included; a 30-day home trial for AU & NZ households; a 12-month warranty plus Australian Consumer Law; security updates until at least 31 december 2029 | A Taiwanese company (Synology Inc., New Taipei), founded in 2000; its Australian site points buyers to partners and resellers |
Founding Edition
Shield Edge $524 AUD, inc GST (with your own USB drive) · Shield Vault $724 (256 GB built in)
Founding prices for the first 20 numbered Shields, locked in for life. Standard prices from unit 21: Edge $664 · Vault $914, plus $25 delivery in Australia. Shield Core filters the whole home but has no storage.
Pay in 4: From $131.00 a fortnight with Afterpay or PayPal, interest-free — or Zip, with weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments on Zip's terms. The total is the same either way.
30-day home trial for households in Australia and New Zealand · 12-month warranty plus Australian Consumer Law · Security updates until at least 31 December 2029
See Shield Vault →Compare all three models →What owners say →
Common questions.
Is WOMBATS Shield a NAS replacement?
For the jobs a family buys a NAS for — phone photos, documents, Mac backups and a media library the TV can stream — yes. Shield Edge (with your own USB drive) and Vault cover the photos, documents and media library; Vault adds Time Machine backups for Macs, on a built-in drive that’s encrypted, with encryption switched on when you first set up the drive. For a storage platform — RAID, many drive bays, surveillance recording — no: that’s what Synology builds, and it does it very well.
Does Shield have drive bays or RAID?
No bays and no RAID. Shield Vault has a 256 GB internal drive (1, 2 or 4 TB optional) that’s encrypted, with encryption switched on when you first set up the drive, and the key bound to the hardware. Shield Edge uses your own external USB drive. Storage is a feature of the box rather than a project: one decision, and no drives to plan.
Both support Time Machine — what’s the difference?
On a Synology, Time Machine is supported and documented, and you set it up on storage you create. On Shield Vault it’s built in: set up the drive once — that’s also when you can switch encryption on — and Time Machine is ready for every Mac in the house. Shield Core and Edge don’t offer Time Machine.
Can a Synology NAS protect my network like Shield does?
A NAS is built to store and serve files, not to filter your home’s internet traffic; Synology sells Wi-Fi routers, with parental controls, for that job. Shield Edge and Vault put family protection and private storage in one box (Edge with your own USB drive), so a household doesn’t need two devices.
This comparison is based on publicly available information from each maker’s own website and documentation, reviewed 14 September 2026. Synology is a trademark of its owner; WOMBATS Shield has no affiliation with, and no endorsement from, the companies or projects mentioned. Spot something outdated or unfair? Email hello@wombatss.com and we’ll fix it.