There are external hard drives ready to connect directly to our router through the network cable, there is a method that many users do not know to share any external unit and that is accessible from any device that shares access point. Many routers include a USB connection on the back that, in addition to being used for maintenance or firmware update, allows you to connect a disk drive and easily share it on the network.
- Create a USB network drive step by step
- In Windows, we go in the browser to My Computer, specifically to the root where we can see all the connected units. We search the option Connect to network unit in the top menu.
- In the window that appears we can choose a letter to identify the unit in addition to the route where it is. To find this last, we have to find out what is the IP of our router, being the easiest way through the command line. To access it, we must type CMD or Command Prompt in the Run space (Windows 7) or in the smart search menu of the Metro interface (Windows 8).
- When the command line appears, write ipconfig and press the enter key. From among all the data that appear we look for the one that puts determined Gateway and we point the IP in question.
- Again we go to the Execute field and introduce the IP of the router that we just found preceded by two inclined bars (For example \\192.168.0.1). When doing this and clicking on Finish, a folder with the name of the unit connected to the router will appear, which will help us to compose the longed route that we must introduce. (For example \\192.168.0.1\share\USBDisk_1).
- After all this procedure, if we go back to My PC we will have our brand new disk drive totally accessible for our necessities.
- points to consider
- Although we have only one USB port in the router, nothing prevents us from making a HUB and connecting several units simultaneously, stacking with successive network identifiers and being able to split and delimit the access range for each of them.
- In certain circumstances, especially when using pendrives or USB drives of small size, the free and occupied space of the unit can be displayed erroneously, although the content of the files will show it correctly.
- Keep in mind that this unit will only be accessible from a computer connected to the network of the router in question, so we can not see it through the Internet. If we want to do it easily without resorting to configuration processes not suitable for inexperienced hands, nothing better than pulling TeamViewer or any other remote desktop service.