Router with Pen Drive

[meetdilip]

There used to be router models that support USB pen drives and people used to share files through it for the entire network. It was as simple as plugging in the USB pen drive into the USB port of the router. A few people even used external HDD those days to improve the storage space.

I wonder whether such a setup is still possible. A router and USB pen drive to share movies over WiFi.

The idea is to watch movies through a smartphone and get asleep. Would be much more power efficient, without lightning fear and something we do not need to turn off until we get up in the morning.

 

[nitin_g3]

Any router with USB support should work here.
I use tp-link Archer A7, I have attached a 500GB external HDD to it for the same purpose. You can share pics and movies with all the people on the network.

 

[meetdilip]

Thanks. Can you suggest a budget friendly router for the same?

If we try to watch 1080p movies on TV through this setup, will it work without issues?

 

[nitin_g3]

Thanks. Can you suggest a budget friendly router for the same?

You'll need to research on your own based on which type of router you're OK with, i.e. Single band, dual band etc.

If we try to watch 1080p movies on TV through this setup, will it work without issues?

I've watched movies on my PC and phone without any issues. Should work fine for TV also.

 

[Ssreek]

Any router with USB support should work here.
I use tp-link Archer A7, I have attached a 500GB external HDD to it for the same purpose. You can share pics and movies with all the people on the network.

Thanks for suggestion, I'm also looking for one. How is the speed? Let's say you are trying to watch a movie, does it instantly play or there is some buffering or waiting?

 

[Ramadhir Singh]

movies on TV through this setup

Wait.... how you will access files on TV ?
SMB, dlna, ?

1080p movies

ensure wifi can stream/file transfer rate 8-10mbps

 

[nitin_g3]

Thanks for suggestion, I'm also looking for one. How is the speed? Let's say you are trying to watch a movie, does it instantly play or there is some buffering or waiting?

There'll be some lag when you first launch the movie, it's like for 2-5 seconds depending on total file size. And also forward and rewind will be slow for the same reason.

Direct file copy speed over 5 Ghz Wi-Fi is over 3 MBps.

Wait.... how you will access files on TV ?
SMB, dlna, ?

On my phone I access files using SMB. Haven't tried on TV yet.

 

[Ramadhir Singh]

Haven't tried on TV yet.

yup thats the question .. if dnla, router must support this, If android tv, files via smb can be accesses just like phone.

 

[t3chg33k]

There used to be router models that support USB pen drives and people used to share files through it for the entire network. It was as simple as plugging in the USB pen drive into the USB port of the router. A few people even used external HDD those days to improve the storage space.

I wonder whether such a setup is still possible. A router and USB pen drive to share movies over WiFi.

The idea is to watch movies through a smartphone and get asleep. Would be much more power efficient, without lightning fear and something we do not need to turn off until we get up in the morning.

I am using my Asus AC68U for 7 years now in this way. I have an old tablet running Jellyfin server but the content itself is on a 2 TB HDD connected to the router on which I keep downloading content on a rolling basis using Radarr/Sonarr, again running on the tablet. If you are not running a separate server, then would recommend using FTP or even NFS as those are much more efficient than SMB or DLNA.

 

[meetdilip]

Wait.... how you will access files on TV ?
SMB, dlna, ?

No idea. I got VLC Player and Kodi. If it shows up on an Android phone, it will be on TV too, right?

ensure wifi can stream/file transfer rate 8-10mbps

I guess most routers offer at least 150 - 300 Mbps these days.