router question (hooking usb hdd drive up)

[DonRSD]

ok. im about to get another wireless router.

anyway.....what i want to do is hook up my 1tb external hdd to the router.

i have 3 laptops in the house, so hooking up the external hdd to a laptop doesnt really work as the laptops are portable.

is there a way to hook up the usb connected 1tb hdd to an Ethernet port on the router so i never have to move/unplug the hdd?

i know some routers offer a usb port for this reason......but im asking if i can buy a Ethernet to usb adapter and use the 1tb hdd in that regards by hooking it up into an Ethernet port?

[brettallica]

I think the router would have to be able to recognize the hard drive as a device, so that the other devices in your network could connect to it. In the situation you propose of getting an adapter that takes a USB signal and converts it to Ethernet, they do have those. I think in that case, though, the router itself might not know how to "talk" to the hard drive if the router is a little too old. It could end up being a combination of getting the right router and right external hard drive to accomplish this.

Here's a little more on this topic:

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-6122_102-246730.html

It looks like it's doable if your folder sharing is set up correctly.

All my shares at home are drives that are internal on my server, and for my one external drive that I might share, it's hooked directly into my server, so connecting to it is pretty easy as well.

[DonRSD]

thank you.

i have a linksys wrt54g router now and will move that upstairs to use as a wireless hub as i dont want wires running to my bedroom so i can connect my directv & bluray player to the internet.

im about to get another linksys but a WRT310N

i want the gigabit ports & wireless N

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

thank you.

i have a linksys wrt54g router now and will move that upstairs to use as a wireless hub as i dont want wires running to my bedroom so i can connect my directv & bluray player to the internet.

im about to get another linksys but a WRT310N

i want the gigabit ports & wireless N

That's an insane deal for a gigabit ethernet router with wireless N. I don't think I've ever seen one that cheap before. What a great buy!

You should be able to do this. You might also consider getting a dedicated network storage device, such as this one, or a network storage adapter, like this. The latter device will take your USB external drive and make it easy to share on your network.

[DonRSD]

Originally Posted by brettallica

That's an insane deal for a gigabit ethernet router with wireless N. I don't think I've ever seen one that cheap before. What a great buy!

You should be able to do this. You might also consider getting a dedicated network storage device, such as this one, or a network storage adapter, like this. The latter device will take your USB external drive and make it easy to share on your network.

that 2nd option i like!
will a dlink play nicely with my linksys setup?

i just ordered the router.
tiger direct only has 147 left in stock

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

that 2nd option i like!
will a dlink play nicely with my linksys setup?

i just ordered the router.
tiger direct only has 147 left in stock

I have an older 500GB Buffalo Linkstation Live which allows me to add a USB drive and have access to it from my network. The Buffalo connects to my network via Ethernet so I do not have to worry about having a computer on or sharing the drive through another computer.

Mine is 10/100, but the new models are 10/100/1000 which would mate with your WRT310 router nicely.

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

that 2nd option i like!
will a dlink play nicely with my linksys setup?

Yeah, you "should" be able to play nicely. It's always theoretical when you're talking about network stuff until it's confirmed working, but — in theory — there shouldn't be any problems.

[DonRSD]

Originally Posted by Hammie

I have an older 500GB Buffalo Linkstation Live which allows me to add a USB drive and have access to it from my network. The Buffalo connects to my network via Ethernet so I do not have to worry about having a computer on or sharing the drive through another computer.

Mine is 10/100, but the new models are 10/100/1000 which would mate with your WRT310 router nicely.

LOU you always have good equiptment.
no worries, your black fxia3's are still on the wall

im not trying to go all crazy with home networking, i just dont want my hdd plugged into a pc to access it. i want it to be plugged into the router.
im tempted to buy a 'usb to ethernet' adapter on ebay

Originally Posted by brettallica

Yeah, you "should" be able to play nicely. It's always theoretical when you're talking about network stuff until it's confirmed working, but — in theory — there shouldn't be any problems.

i understand what youre talking about. im trying to go linksys for everything.
i also have a 8 port wired switch in my sons room for his pc, ps3, ps3 etc

the 310 comes friday so we shall see what happens.

any tipe for making my current router (linksys wrt54g) a wireless access point in my master bedroom?
can i receive the internet signal from my new 310 on my wrt54g and then use the ports on the back of the 54g and hook up my directv & bluray?

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

LOU you always have good equiptment.
no worries, your black fxia3's are still on the wall

im not trying to go all crazy with home networking, i just dont want my hdd plugged into a pc to access it. i want it to be plugged into the router.
im tempted to buy a 'usb to ethernet' adapter on ebay



i understand what youre talking about. im trying to go linksys for everything.
i also have a 8 port wired switch in my sons room for his pc, ps3, ps3 etc

the 310 comes friday so we shall see what happens.

any tipe for making my current router (linksys wrt54g) a wireless access point in my master bedroom?
can i receive the internet signal from my new 310 on my wrt54g and then use the ports on the back of the 54g and hook up my directv & bluray?

I'd say if you've already got the external hard drive and it has USB, then get one of those network storage adapters. That is what you'll need here. I wouldn't rely on one of those USB-to-Ethernet adapter dongle things, although it *may* work. The official adapters are designed specifically for this purpose, while the USB-to-Ethernet adapter dongles are used more for printers and such (but they do have other uses).

About turning your existing router into a bridge, this is not something I've done before wirelessly. I am fairly certain you can use any router as a bridge, but I've only done that in a wired setup. I've actually got that exact setup going on right now at my work: I have a main Ethernet line that comes into "my area" but then it is split into a few other connections (because I'm always fixing computers here at work) with a router, as opposed to a switch, which is technically the way you're supposed to do it — and the way it is done at my house.

[Hammie]

Don,

My only concern with the device that Brett linked to is that some of the reviews said they had to reformat to FAT32 instead of NFTS. You may want to make sure whatever you buy is compatible with the format your USB HDD is. Just an observation.

BTW, I just noticed that my Linksys WRT610 has the USB port for an external drive. Also, the Linksys WRT320 has that port as well. Would you be willing to exchange the WRT310 for the WRT320 or WRT610 (BTW, the new models are E2000 and E3000, respectfully)?

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by Hammie

Don,

My only concern with the device that Brett linked to is that some of the reviews said they had to reformat to FAT32 instead of NFTS. You may want to make sure whatever you buy is compatible with the format your USB HDD is. Just an observation.

That's a really good point. If the drive is a blank slate, then we're golden, but if there's already a ton of data on there then we might run into issues (regarding backing up the data that's on there, then formatting, then getting it back on there).