Cheap device to use as wireless extender and wireless hard drive

[Chunkers]

I work offshore and one of my main sources of entertainment is to sit in my bunk and use a tablet to watch films etc. and other content I bring from home, usually recorded off my HTPC or ripped from DVD's. I do have a home media server onshore but the internet offshore is almost unusably slow and certainly won't support any kind of streaming or data transfer.

I have a Nexus 7 with 16Gb storage and find this pretty limitng and end up transferring files regularly from my various USB sticks and hard drives.

A lot of the guys have gone out and bought wireless hard drives like the Seagate ones (Seagate Wireless Plus), apparently they work very well. Is there a low cost equivalent using my existing storage?

They are expensive and lack flexibility. I am looking for similar solution with which I can use my usb drives, hard drives, memory sticks and ideally as a wireless extender onto the existing wifi network. I don't need a LAN port or any kind of modem. The idea is to give me access to all my files on my tablet as transparently as possible so I would prefer a solution which does not need proprietary software on my Nexus.

I guess the perfect device would be a budget wireless router or USB hub (second hand?) which has multiple USB ports supporting storage and can act as a Wireless extender. Perhaps there are devices on the market which fit this niche? Maybe a cheap router like this one?

Any suggestions?

Cheers

Chunks

 

[thiggins]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...r-506l-shareport-go-mobile-companion-reviewed

There is also a newer version
http://www.dlink.com/us/en/home-solutions/connect/routers/dir-508l-shareport-go-ii

 

[Chunkers]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...r-506l-shareport-go-mobile-companion-reviewed

There is also a newer version
http://www.dlink.com/us/en/home-solutions/connect/routers/dir-508l-shareport-go-ii

That ticks all the boxes, thanks! I wasn't clear in my original post that I don't really need a mobile solution as I have mains power in my cabin.

I will definitely look into the Shareport, am also toying with the idea of buying a cheap router and flashing with DD-WRT, the Belkin N600 might be a good option as it can be bought very cheaply second hand and has two USB ports.

Chunks

 

[Nerre]

Most modern routers with USB port will allow you to connect USB drives (sticks or hard disks) and share them.

I turned a WNR3500L into a "NAS" by connecting a USB hub and then two drives (one 32 GB pen drive and one 1 TB hard disk). Now, each of those two are also partitioned into two partitions so I have /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb2.

I'm running TomatoUSB on that WNR3500L, not sure if the stock firmware can handle several drives.

The reason for using the USB pen drive is that I use spin down on the hard drive (to lower power consumption), so the hard drive is used mainly for "backup storage", while the USB pen drive is used for optware and storing files that are accessed more often.

 

[Chunkers]

Most modern routers with USB port will allow you to connect USB drives (sticks or hard disks) and share them.

I turned a WNR3500L into a "NAS" by connecting a USB hub and then two drives (one 32 GB pen drive and one 1 TB hard disk). Now, each of those two are also partitioned into two partitions so I have /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb2.

This is exactly the kind of idea I had, I just want it to play nice with my tablet. Apparently the Belkin I linked is a pretty terrible router with the stock firmware but with DD-WRT installed a better performer and it has the all-important USB ports. The WNR3500L would also be a great choice but the version with the USB port seems a lot more expensive in the UK.

Am also looking at some of the TP-Link range which come with USB ports.

Chunks

 

[stevech]

Most all WiFi routers with USB ports for disks are quite slow with disk I/O, like 3MBytes/sec or so. Can be OK, depending on your expectations.

 

[Chunkers]

Most all WiFi routers with USB ports for disks are quite slow with disk I/O, like 3MBytes/sec or so. Can be OK, depending on your expectations.

Good point, not too worried as long as it can stream video - I have pushed the button on a new (old stock?) Belkin N600 for £22, will attempt to flash DD-WRT and will let you know how I get on. Will be fun.

Thanks for the advice.

Chunks

 

[Chunkers]

OK, I have got my cheap router and flashed it with DD-WRT (with which I am very impressed). It works very as a WAP and was a real bargain in that respect so I am pretty happy but there is a catch.

It also functions as a NAS and I have full access on my network to the attached USB drives which is nice however the drawback is exactly what Stevech suggested, the transfer speed is too low for full hd compressed video.

So, I can stream music and transfer files to my hearts content (albeit slowly) but HD video is too much to ask!

I guess I could connect my usb drive to ethernet somehow?
I wonder if there is a similarly cheap router out there with full speed USB ports?

Anyway, cheers!

Chunks

 

[stevech]

Look on eBay for a used/decent 1 bay NAS. Synology, QNAP best choices. Buffalo OK, avoid Seagate and IOmega NAS.

DD-WRT's file system for USB disks is notoriously slow as compared to some $175 type WiFi routers. But you'll pay at least that much for a small NAS.

Or just plug it into a PC that's on, and make one or more folders on the drive shared on the LAN.

 

[PrivateJoker]

People have thrown out some solid ideas to try, so here's one more.

I'm going to speculate and guess that streaming from your home via USB drives plugged into a router, then that router maybe connecting over hardwired connection to your main router (or maybe wifi?) then back up, over the net, and down to yourself on your Nexus might give it a pretty slow upstream combined with your pretty narrow downstream.

So maybe rely on someone else's servers like Dropbox (I inserted my link there to earn more space, don't feel obligated to use it or sign up if you don't need it though). It's decently quick (world wide distributed high speed infrastructure), the mobile apps can play many video types right in the app, and it's supported by hundreds if not thousands of other mobile apps to use as a datastore.

You get a 5gb(ish?) account for free, test that maybe see how it works. On the home end, very easy to just put the files you want to share to yourself in the appropriate folder. If it works for you, you can follow the tips on "earning more storage" on their site. In less than an hour I earned myself an extra 3-4gb (mostly by uploading a couple videos from my phone manually) without even sharing a link for friends to join.

You could even send an email home (or try to VNC) and move some files out of the Dropbox folder, and some new ones in, while you're still offshore.

I also like Copy (I inserted my link there, if you try it out it bonuses us both up another 5gb) which is free and 20gb, but it handles files a little different and I'm not sure if it can play back video within its app. There's also skydive and Box, and Google Drive (not sure if/how any of them handle video to mobile app).

It's worth trying?? And it doesn't cost you anything more..you can upgrade to a paid huge Dropbox account if you find you want it.

HTH!

*Edit: Google Drive does support syncing, sharing and playing video. It might work well on the Nexus, being a Google app. There's also apps like Vplayer & VLC that are supposed to be able to play from Dropbox, Box.net, etc, on an Android device. No prior experience personally with them though on Android.

Here is a screencap on ios playing the only video file I had on there (sorry, it is in fact a pile of compost) via Dropbox.