USB Storage

46

R6100 WiFi Router

Connect a USB Storage Device to the Router

ReadySHARE lets you access and share or a USB drive connected the router USB port. If

your USB device has special drivers, it is not compatible.



To connect a USB storage device:

1.

Insert your USB storage device into the USB port on the rear panel of the router.

2.

If your USB device has a power supply, you must use it when you connect the USB device

to the router.

It might take up to two minutes before the USB device is ready for sharing.

Safely Remove a USB Drive

If you want to physically disconnect a USB drive from the router USB port, first, log in to the

router and safely remove it.



To remove a USB disk drive safely:

1.

Select

USB Storage > Basic Settings

.

2.

Click the

Safely Remove USB Device

button.

This takes the drive offline.

3.

Physically disconnect the USB drive.

Access the USB Storage Device

When you connect the USB device to the router USB port, it might take up to two minutes

before it is ready for sharing. By default, the USB storage device is available to all computers

on your local area network (LAN).



To access the USB device from a Mac:

1.

Select

Go > Connect to Server

.

2.

Enter

smb://readyshare

as the server address.

3.

Click the

Connect

button.

USB Storage

47

R6100 WiFi Router



To access the USB device from a Windows computer:

Use any of these methods:

•

Select

Start > Run

. Enter

\\readyshare

in the dialog box and click the

OK

button.

•

Open a browser and enter

\\readyshare

in the address bar.

•

Open My Network Places and enter

\\readyshare

in the address bar.



To map the USB device to a Windows network drive:

1.

Visit

www.netgear.com/readyshare.

2.

In the ReadySHARE USB Storage Access pane, click the

PC Utility

button.

The readyshareconnect.exe file is downloaded to your computer.

3.

Launch readyshareconnect.exe.

4.

Select the drive letter that you want to map to the network folder.

5.

(Optional) If you want to connect to the USB drive as a different user, select the

Connect

using different credentials

check box.

a.

Type the user name and password that you want to use.

b.

Click the

OK

button.

6.

Click the

Finish

button.

The USB drive is mapped to the drive letter that you specified.



To access the USB drive from a remote computer:

1.

Launch a web browser.

2.

Connect using the router’s Internet port IP address.

If you are using Dynamic DNS, you can type the DNS name, rather than the IP address.

You can view the router’s Internet IP address on the BASIC Home screen (see

Dashboard (BASIC Home Screen)

on page

16).

USB Storage

48

R6100 WiFi Router



To access the USB drive with FTP from a remote computer:

1.

Make sure that the FTP check box is selected in the Access Method section of the USB

Storage (Advanced Settings) screen.

See

USB Storage Device Network and Access Settings

on page

51.

2.

Launch a web browser.

3.

Type

ftp://

and the Internet port IP address in the address field of the browser.

For example, type

.

If you are using Dynamic DNS, you can type the DNS name rather than the IP address.

4.

Type the account name and password for the account that has access rights to the USB

drive.

The user name (account name) for All – no password is

guest

.

The directories of the USB drive that your account has access to display. For example,

you could see: share/partition1/directory1. You can now read and copy files from the USB

directory.

Sharing Files

You can share files on the USB drive for a wide variety of business and recreational

purposes. The files can be Windows, Mac, or Linux file types (NTFS, FAT32, HFS+, Ext 3,

Ext 4), including text, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, MP3, pictures, and multimedia files. USB

drive applications include:

•

Sharing multimedia with friends and family such as MP3 files, pictures, and other

multimedia with local and remote users.

•

Sharing resources on your network. You can store files in a central location so that you do

not have to power up a computer to perform local sharing. In addition, you can share files

between Macintosh, Linux, and Windows computers by using the USB drive as a

go-between across the systems.

•

Sharing files such as Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and text files with

remote users.

A few common uses are described in the following sections.

Share Photos

You can create your own central storage location for photos and multimedia. This method

eliminates the need to log in to (and pay for) an external photo-sharing site.



To share files with your friends and family:

1.

Insert your USB drive into the USB port on the router either directly or with a USB cable.

Computers on your local area network (LAN) can automatically access this USB drive

using a web browser or Microsoft Networking.

USB Storage

49

R6100 WiFi Router

2.

If you want to specify read-only access or to allow access from the Internet, see

USB

Storage Device Network and Access Settings

on page

51.

Store Files in a Central Location for Printing

This scenario is for a family that has one high-quality color printer directly attached to a

computer, but not shared on the local area network (LAN). This family does not have a print

server.

•

One family member has photos on a Macintosh computer that she wants to print.

•

The photo-capable color printer is directly attached to a Windows computer, but not

shared on the network.

•

The Mac and the Windows PC are not visible to each other on the network.



To print photos from a Mac on the printer attached to a Windows computer:

•

On the Mac, access the USB drive by typing

\\readyshare

in the address field of a web

browser. Then copy the photos to the USB drive.

•

On a Window computer, use a web browser or Microsoft Networking to copy the files from

the USB drive to the computer. Then print the files.

Share Large Files over the Internet

Sending files that are larger than 5 MB can pose a problem for many email systems. The

router allows you to share large files such as PowerPoint presentations or .zip files over the

Internet. FTP can be used to download shared files from the router.

Sharing files with a remote colleague involves the following considerations:

•

There are two user accounts: admin and guest. The password for admin is the same one

that you use to access the router. By default, it is

password

. The guest user account has

no password.

•

On the FTP site, the person receiving the files uses the guest user account and enters

the password. (FTP requires that you type something in the password field.)

•

Be sure to select the

FTP (via Internet)

check box in the USB Storage (Advanced

Settings) screen. This option supports both downloading and uploading of files.

Note:

You can enable the HTTP (via Internet) option on the USB Storage

(Advanced Settings) screen to share large files. This option supports

downloading files only.

USB Storage

50

R6100 WiFi Router

View a USB Device Attached to the Router



To view basic information about the USB storage device:

1.

Select

BASIC > ReadySHARE

.

The screen displays a USB storage device if it is attached to the router USB port.

If you logged in to the router before you connected your USB device, you might not see

your USB device in this screen. If this happens, log out and then log back in.

2.

(Optional) To view the files and folders on the USB device, click the network device name or

the share name.

3.

(Optional) To view more detail or to change the USB device settings, click the

Edit

button.

The USB Storage (Advanced Settings) screen displays. See

USB Storage Device

Network and Access Settings

on page

51.