|
|
Post by silverdragon on Sept 29, 2013 13:33:45 GMT
As it says on the tin....
We have a shared drive on our network at home, and I would rather like to be able to access it with an Android device....
'Cept I dunno where to start.....
The drive in question is part of my main computer.
Now being a dual boot, I can swap from Windows to Linux and still get at that drive no problem here...
I have managed to persuade win7 machine that it CAN see the XP drive on the network (and that was a head scratcher)
I do NOT want to use "Cloud" storage just yet...
(Thats future experiment use)
So, Question is, How do I get a network drive to be visible to an Android device.....
Anyone?...
I am pushing the limits of my own experience...
Its kinda fun.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Oct 21, 2013 18:34:06 GMT
I'd like to know the answer to this also. I do not believe I have a ever found a way to view other devices on my network when my Android device is on the home wireless network.
Granted, Android is not like Windows where you can just go to My Computer > Network and see everything connected to the network. But, it's a real head scratcher as to how to accomplish this with an Android device. I'm going to have do some digging on this now & I'll let you know if I find anything.
Slightly off topic question: Is it better (faster transfers, more secure, etc) to use a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device or create a virtual server for storing & sharing files between computers on a network?
|
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Oct 23, 2013 8:40:36 GMT
Creating a virtual server and having a network storage device such as Hard drive are almost entirely the same thing, except that with my system of having this computer as the network storage device I have a full computer that can be used as one. so its not a dedicated server.
As for which is faster, I dont know.
Security wise, my Network drive is set to ONLY allow access to given machines....
|
|
|
|
Post by c64 on Dec 8, 2013 17:55:21 GMT
That's pretty simple, you have many choices to do that.
I own a "MyBook" from WD. Whatever Picture, Music or video is put into the "Public Folder can be found by any Smart-TV or Smartphone in the section "Nearby devices" if you are connected to the same network.
You can't upload and you can only download media files. To access any file and to be able to upload as well accessing my private folders on the network, I simply use a FTP client for the Smartphone. Together with a ZIP App, I can conviniently up and download anything from and where I want and it works pretty good.
In case you own a Samsung phone, download the App "Kies" which makes the cell phone turn into a webserver and you can manage data, media, appointments, contacts, and many things more using a browser on a computer inside the same network. All you need to do is to enter a PIN displayed on your smartphone. You can also up and download individual files. This is the method of choice to get files from or to "computers of strangers", e.g. at your friends's place or workplace.
|
|
|
|
Post by OziRiS on Dec 22, 2013 4:59:08 GMT
That's pretty simple, you have many choices to do that. I own a "MyBook" from WD. Whatever Picture, Music or video is put into the "Public Folder can be found by any Smart-TV or Smartphone in the section "Nearby devices" if you are connected to the same network. You can't upload and you can only download media files. To access any file and to be able to upload as well accessing my private folders on the network, I simply use a FTP client for the Smartphone. Together with a ZIP App, I can conviniently up and download anything from and where I want and it works pretty good. In case you own a Samsung phone, download the App "Kies" which makes the cell phone turn into a webserver and you can manage data, media, appointments, contacts, and many things more using a browser on a computer inside the same network. All you need to do is to enter a PIN displayed on your smartphone. You can also up and download individual files. This is the method of choice to get files from or to "computers of strangers", e.g. at your friends's place or workplace. If it's media only, I don't use the apps that came with my Samsung Galaxy SII. They're too unstable and don't support enough media formats. For that I use an app called Media House. It can play pretty much anything that I can stream from my LaCie NetworkSpace 2 NAS drive. As for the FTP idea, I've tried that at one point, but couldn't get it to work. Couldn't see anything on the network at all, not even the NAS. Which client are you using? |
|
|
|
Post by c64 on Dec 22, 2013 12:10:09 GMT
As for the FTP idea, I've tried that at one point, but couldn't get it to work. Couldn't see anything on the network at all, not even the NAS. Which client are you using? Did you try "Kies"? This is the most convenient way since the data is still organized as your phone offers it. I use "andFTP" which can do about anything you would expect from a FTP client. Of course you need to enter the FTP Address manually but then you can safe the config to gain access by a single click. Also you might want to check out "Total Commander" which is kind of like the good old "Norton Commander". It can ZIP and unzip files as well as transfer them by FTP. But it's really hard to learn how use it efficiently. |
|
|
|
Post by OziRiS on Dec 22, 2013 12:38:42 GMT
As for the FTP idea, I've tried that at one point, but couldn't get it to work. Couldn't see anything on the network at all, not even the NAS. Which client are you using? Did you try "Kies"? This is the most convenient way since the data is still organized as your phone offers it. I use "andFTP" which can do about anything you would expect from a FTP client. Of course you need to enter the FTP Address manually but then you can safe the config to gain access by a single click. Also you might want to check out "Total Commander" which is kind of like the good old "Norton Commander". It can ZIP and unzip files as well as transfer them by FTP. But it's really hard to learn how use it efficiently. I did try Kies and found it really annoying to work with. I don't know if it's just me, but the sync process with the phone took forever and a day and I don't like the idea of having to keep the program running on my PC all the time to ensure access. That's why I asked about the FTP option, since that should be able to access whatever I have shared on my network without having to run additional client programs, right? |
|
|
|
Post by c64 on Dec 22, 2013 12:56:38 GMT
Did you try "Kies"? This is the most convenient way since the data is still organized as your phone offers it. I use "andFTP" which can do about anything you would expect from a FTP client. Of course you need to enter the FTP Address manually but then you can safe the config to gain access by a single click. Also you might want to check out "Total Commander" which is kind of like the good old "Norton Commander". It can ZIP and unzip files as well as transfer them by FTP. But it's really hard to learn how use it efficiently. I did try Kies and found it really annoying to work with. I don't know if it's just me, but the sync process with the phone took forever and a day and I don't like the idea of having to keep the program running on my PC all the time to ensure access. That's why I asked about the FTP option, since that should be able to access whatever I have shared on my network without having to run additional client programs, right? Correct, that's why I use it the most to share data with other devices. |
|
|
|
Post by OziRiS on Dec 22, 2013 13:01:12 GMT
I did try Kies and found it really annoying to work with. I don't know if it's just me, but the sync process with the phone took forever and a day and I don't like the idea of having to keep the program running on my PC all the time to ensure access. That's why I asked about the FTP option, since that should be able to access whatever I have shared on my network without having to run additional client programs, right? Correct, that's why I use it the most to share data with other devices. Just occured to me that you said I have to enter the FTP adress manually. Then that would mean I'd have to set up an FTP client on my computer, wouldn't it? Otherwise, where would I get the adress? |
|
|
|
Post by c64 on Dec 22, 2013 13:08:50 GMT
You need to have an FTP server in your network. That should be your NAS. Most NAS have a built in FTP server.
So you enter the IP of your NAS and then you can upload and download data to the NAS. If you need to use the data elsewhere, you can download it from the NAS as a second step of your transfer.
You can also use an adapter female USB-A to male Micro-USB you plug into your phone to connect it with a USB drive. You can use any standard USB pen drive directly or you can use HDDs using a Y-cable to provide the extra power.
|
|
