USB port on Wireless Routers

[conrad]

Does any wireless router with a USB port allow a regular external harddrive to become a NAS? Can I plug in a USB hub and attach both a printer an external harddrive? I understand that regular external hard drives are not intended on being left on all the time. What is the name of the feature that I'm looking for so I can search for wireless routers that offer it? Is 11g fast enough to watch DVD (non HD) quality video?

 

[scotty]

Depends on the router. The DIR-655 for example does not allow any of this functionality - it only allows you to save the wireless networking settings on a USB key for ease of set-up on an XP workstation. Otherwise, it's basically useless.

I can only speak to this model though, others might support it...

 

[conrad]

I saw that the apple wireless router allows for printers and storage but I was wondering if this is a rare feature or normal.

 

[thiggins]

This isn't a common feature. Current draft 11n router that support it include:
Linksys WRT350N Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link Review
Linksys WRT600N Review: Dual-Band 11n comes to Linky-land
Apple AirPort Extreme Reviewed: Dual-Band Draft 11n for Everyone

One of the reasons you don't find it very often is that file sharing performance is not very good at all.

 

[conrad]

What wireless G routers exist with this feature?

 

[thiggins]

None that I can think of.

 

[amitwadaskar]

NAS for Linksys WRT600N wireless router with storage USB link



i have recently bought 'Linksys WRT600N' wireless router which has a storage USB link. i need to buy an external storage, would you able to suggest me one. should i go for a regular external storage hard drive and hook it to the USB or should i go for a NAS drive and hook it to the the ethernet port.

read/write speed is my priority and my budget for the external drive std. /NSA is around $250 - $300

It would be very nice of someone who could suggest me any thing which is avalable in the market with my above requirements

Thanks in Advance!!


Amit

 

[thiggins]

Amit,
If performance is important, you don't want to use the WRT600N storagelink. Look at the NAS Charts. The test results are posted there.

How much storage do you want? Is RAID needed? Media Serving?
I suggest you read this article to help you choose a NAS:
How To Choose the Right NAS for You

 

[amitwadaskar]

Hey thanks Tim, my storage is around 1 TB, RAID is not required, Media serving=Yes, i'm going through the NAS performance chart, let me know if you have any specific recommendation from the charts for my requirements.


Amit