USB Storage

46

R6300 WiFi Router 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit

USB Drive Requirements

The router works with 1.0 and 1.1 (USB Full Speed) and 2.0 (USB High Speed) standards.

The approximate USB bus speeds are shown in the following table. Actual bus speeds can

vary, depending on the CPU speed, memory, speed of the network, and other variables.

Table 3.

USB Drive Speeds

Bus

Speed/Sec

USB 1.1

12 Mbits

USB 2.0

480 Mbits

The router works with most USB-compliant external flash and hard drives. For the most

up-to-date list of USB drives that the router supports, go to:

The router supports both read and write for FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, and Linux file systems

(EXT2 and EXT3).

Note:

Some USB external hard drives and flash drives require you to load

the drivers onto the PC before the PC can access the USB device.

Such USB devices do not work with the router.

ReadySHARE Access

Once you have set up your router, you can connect any USB storage device and share the

contents with others on your network.

You can access your USB device in any of the following ways:

•

On Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 2000 systems, select

Start >

Run

, and enter

\\readyshare

in the dialog box. Click

OK

.

•

On Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 2000 systems, open Internet

Explorer or Safari, and enter

\\readyshare

in the address bar.

•

On Mac OSX (version 10.2 or later), enter

smb://readyshare

in the address bar.

•

In My Network Places, enter

\\readyshare

in the address bar.

File-Sharing Scenarios

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

purposes. The files can be any PC, Mac, or Linux file type including text files, Word,

PowerPoint, Excel, MP3, pictures, and multimedia. USB drive applications include:

USB Storage

47

R6300 WiFi Router 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit

•

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 PC 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.

Sharing Photos

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

2.

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

USB

Storage Advanced Settings

on page

50.

Storing 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 PC, but not shared on the

network.

•

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



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

1.

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.

2.

On the PC, use a web browser or Microsoft Networking to copy the files from the USB drive

to the PC. Then print the files.

Sharing 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 easily download shared files from the router.

Sharing files with a remote colleague involves the following considerations:

USB Storage

48

R6300 WiFi Router 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit

•

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 Advanced

USB Storage screen to share large files. This option supports

downloading files only.

Basic Settings

You can view or edit basic settings for the USB storage device attached to your router.

You can access this feature by selecting

Basic > ReadySHARE

, or

Advanced > USB

Storage > ReadySHARE

.

The USB Storage (Basic Settings) screen displays:

By default, the USB storage device is available to all computers on your local area network

(LAN).

The ReadySHARE print feature allows you to share a printer that you connect to the USB

port on your router. To use the ReadySHARE print feature on a Windows PC, you need to

use the NETGEAR USB Control Center utility. For information about this feature, see

Chapter

6, ReadySHARE Printer

.

USB Storage

49

R6300 WiFi Router 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit



To access your USB device:

1.

Click the network device name or the share name in your computer’s network folders

list.

2.

For SMB://readyshare, click

Connect

.

Note:

If you logged in to the router before you connected your USB

device, you might not see your USB device in the router screens. If

this happens, log out and then log back in.

Add or Edit a Network Folder

1.

You can access this feature by selecting

Basic > ReadySHARE

, and clicking

Edit

, or

selecting

Advanced > USB Storage > Advanced Settings

.

2.

Specify the changes that you want to make:

•

To add a folder, click

Create Network Folder

.

USB Storage

50

R6300 WiFi Router 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit

•

To edit a folder, select its radio button, and then click

Edit

.

3.

You can use this screen to select a folder, change the share name, or change the read

access or write access from All – no password to

admin

.

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

the same one that is used to log in to the router. By default, it is password.

4.

Click

Apply

for your changes to take effect.

USB Storage Advanced Settings

You can set up the device name, workgroups, and network folders for your USB device. On

the Advanced tab, select

USB Storage >

Advanced Settings

to display the following

screen:

You can use this screen to specify access to the USB storage device.

•

Network Device Name

. The default is readyshare. This is the name used to access the

USB device connected to the router.

•

Workgroup

. If you are using a Windows workgroup rather than a domain, the workgroup

name is displayed here. The name works only in an operating system that supports

NetBIOS, such as Microsoft Windows.

•

Access Method

. The access methods are described here.

Network Connection

. Enabled by default, this connection allows all users on the LAN to

have access to the USB drive.

HTTP

. Enabled by default. You can type

to

access the USB drive.

HTTP (via Internet

. Disabled by default. If you enable this setting, remote users can type

http://<

public IP address

/shares>

(for example,

) or a URL

domain name to access the USB drive over the Internet. This setting supports file

uploading only.