Wireless Hard Drive

[jamiesalter]

Hello all,

Currently am trying to find a wireless (probably 802.11g) sata hard drive enclosure which only does file sharing - ie: I don't need/want a media player etc which will raise the price.

Looking around I have found the Apple Time Capsule but that seems a rip off. The DLink G600 also exists, but it has a limit of 400GB (and I'd want to put around 1TB in).

Reason for wireless hard drive is currently at uni and need a method of transferring data around the house so that all those living there can access it. However, we have been disallowed from using the ethernet in place to file share.

One solution may be to buy a wireless router with a usb slot (which I believe many have now) and then buy a regular external hard drive enclosure.

Any comments appreciated.

Jamie

[Funkstar]

However, we have been disallowed from using the ethernet in place to file share.

This I do not understand. Why?

How are things setup in your place at the moment?

Adding a router with a USB port is going to cause quite a lot of issues with regards to getting up IPs and DHCP if you already have a router etc.

[mikerr]

However, we have been disallowed from using the ethernet in place to file share.

You sure the "ban" isn't just on fileshareing over the broadband link... ?

[Professor Frink]

As long as you don't mind a few wires around the house you should be alright. Do you mean your landlord doesn't want you drilling holes through the walls to sort out a wired network?

[strike-down]

I would just get a NAS box and plug it into the back of your router, then put the router ontop of the NAS box. Problem solved (unless of course there isnt space where the router is )

[jamiesalter]

Okay...sorry for the vague original post.

Currently in terraced housing and I don't actually know where the switch is (think it might be in an adjacent house). On "our end" as it where, we only see a couple of ethernet ports coming out of the wall in each room which is then connected to the internet and central servers (I presume). I've asked about connecting a nas box to the wall and the answer was no. Something about not overloading the bandwidth usage through the switch supplying the house (I think basically that its a really cheap switch). Yes, I could just plug one in, but that wouldn't be a satisfactory solution. And yes, running wires around the house isn't an option either.

Therefore, I've come to the only solution I can think of which is to find/create a cheap, wireless network hard drive enclosure. The speed isn't a massive issue, so 802.11g is fine.

Do you know of such a product?

Cheers.

[aidanjt]

Eh?.. You can just attach your own switch to the wall socket. That wont load any network bandwidth in the other houses. If you want to protect your stuff further, you can attach a 'cable' router and use NAT to partition your network from the rest.

[jamiesalter]

Surely if I attach a nas box of some sort to the wall socket, even if there is a switch in between, will still use the "central" switch when transferring files to other people my house?

Problem is, now I've asked whether I can use the central switch to transfer files which aren't important to the work we are doing, and they've said no, I can't just plug a nas in and then blame ignorance when they see what I've done. True, I still could, but as I said it would be more satisfactory just to find a wireless hard drive enclosure. The D-Link G600 is exactly what I want, just it only has a capacity of 400GB.

Jamie

[strike-down]

I think the point about using your own switch was that everyone connected directly to that switch instead, thereby removing the need to go through the central switch for file sharing. Will involve running some cat5e cable, but if I was in your position, thats what I'd be doing.

[Funkstar]

Surely if I attach a nas box of some sort to the wall socket, even if there is a switch in between, will still use the "central" switch when transferring files to other people my house?

If you are both connected to the same swtich the data will only be transfered between those physical ports. If the person is on another switch then yes, the data will need to traverse the network and go through the central switch.

[aidanjt]

Surely if I attach a nas box of some sort to the wall socket, even if there is a switch in between, will still use the "central" switch when transferring files to other people my house?

No, a switch only transmits ethernet frames to the target interface. So the only time the main switch will be used is if someone else on the other side of it tries to pull stuff from your NAS. If you want to isolate yourself from the main network for better security for you, and less broadcast leakage on the main network, use a NAT router.

[scaryjim]

For my 2p, your best bet is to choose a NAS solution, then add either a cheap WAP and switch, or a wireless Cable DSL router. That way all the components are easily redeployable into other environments. Either way, you're looking at maybe £30 - £50 on top of the cost of your NAS.

The router may be your best option, as this will include a DHCP server to the LAN side - and of course there's no need to plug anything into the WAN, although if you really wanted to you could plug it into the existing wall socket and have your own private network that also allowed routed access to the university network.

[jimmyt1988]

This I do not understand. Why?

How are things setup in your place at the moment?

Adding a router with a USB port is going to cause quite a lot of issues with regards to getting up IPs and DHCP if you already have a router etc.

No, i have a router with a USB input, its not for harddrives. Its for wirelessly sharing printers and scanners etc. That won't work.

[Funkstar]

No, i have a router with a USB input, its not for harddrives. Its for wirelessly sharing printers and scanners etc. That won't work.

but you do get routers that can share USB connected hard drives. I was refering to potential issues with having a second router sitting behind the first one. jamiesalter hadn't really detailed what the problem was when I wrote that reply.

[jamiesalter]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Have just bought the Linksys WAG160N off ebay for £40 including delivery. Normally hate using ebay for technology, but decided to take the plunge.

Am going to buy the AKASA AK-ENP2STON-BLUK hard drive enclosure and the Samsung 1TB HD103UJ hard drive and then connect the above 2 to a Linksys NSLU2 ("the slug" - which i'll probably also source from ebay).

Reckon the whole thing will come to a little less than £170.

What do you think?

[Funkstar]

Instead of the Slug and an external case, I would be tempted to simplify things and just get a cheap NAS.

Although, it probably isn't as hackable like the Slug is.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Index.aspx?NT=1-0-34-65-0