Connecting a USB Drive to the Router

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Chapter 5

Connecting a USB Drive to the Router

This chapter describes how to configure a USB disk drive attached to the WGT634U Wireless

Media Router. In planning your network, you should consider the level of security required for

local and remote users of the USB drive.

You can connect either a USB flash drive or a USB hard drive to the WGT634U. USB drive

applications may include:

•

Sharing files with offsite coworkers — sharing files such as Word documents, PowerPoint

presentations, and text files with remote users.

•

Sharing multimedia with friends and family — sharing MP3 files, pictures, and other

multimedia with local and remote users.

•

Sharing resources on your network — storing 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 the systems.

Note:

As soon as you plug the USB drive in the router, local users have read and write access to

the drive using Microsoft Networking.

Users from the Internet can access the USB drive using FTP. The USB Drive Wizard will guide

you through the FTP setup process.

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.

A few of the common uses are shown below.

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Connecting a USB Drive to the Router

April 2004, 202-10018-02

Sharing Photos with Friends and Family

The 108 Mbps Wireless Media Router WGT634U allows you to 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.

Figure 5-1:

Sharing photos with friends and family

Sharing files with your friends and family involves the following steps:

1.

Using the 108 Mbps Wireless Media Router WGT634U configuration utility, assign a user

name and password for each friend or family member.

2.

Specify a share folder that the account can access.

3.

Decide whether the account should have read only or read and write privileges. You can assign

read only access of the shared folder on the USB drive to remote friends and family members

such as Grandma.

4.

Local family members (Mom, Dad, and Son) can use a Web browser or Microsoft Networking

to access files on the USB drive. Local users have read and write privileges.

For more information on sharing photos with friends and family who are at another location, see

“Connecting to the USB Drive from a Remote Computer” on page 5-11

.

For more information on sharing photos with family on your local network, see

“Connecting to the

USB Drive from a Local Web Browser” on page 5-11

and

“Connecting to the USB Drive From

Your Home/Office Network” on page 5-12

.

Home Network

USB Drive

Computers Connected to the

USB Drive Over the Internet

Wireless Notebook

Computer

Computers

Printer

WGT634U

Sharing Photos With Friends and Family

Friend

Grandma

Son

Mom

Dad

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Storing Files in a Central Location for Playing or Printing

The WGT634U Wireless Media Router enables you to move files so that a private resource can act

as a network resource. The WGT634U allows centralized storage for easy access from other

computers that have local printers, CD burners, speakers, or specialized software.

For example, the following scenario may occur in a typical family that has one high quality color

printer directly attached to a computer, but not shared on the LAN:

•

The daughter has some photos on her Macintosh computer that she wants to print.

•

The mother has a photo-capable color printer directly attached to her PC, but not shared on the

network.

•

The mother and daughter’s computers are not visible to each other on the network.

Figure 5-2:

Storing files in a central location for printing

How can you send the photos from the daughter’s Mac to a printer attached to the mother’s PC?

This is where the USB drive on the Wireless Router can save you time and effort.

1.

Copy the photos from the daughter’s Mac to the USB drive using a Web browser. See

“Connecting to the USB Drive from a Local Web Browser” on page 5-11

for more

information.

2.

Use the mother’s PC to retrieve the files for printing. You can use a Web browser or Microsoft

Networking to transfer the files from the USB drive to a PC. For more information on using

Microsoft Networking to transfer the files, see

“Connecting to the USB Drive From Your

Home/Office Network” on page 5-12

.

Home Network

USB Drive

Wireless Notebook

Computer

Computers

Printer

WGT634U

Storing Files in a Central Location

Daughter

Mom

Dad

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Connecting a USB Drive to the Router

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Sharing Large Files with Colleagues

Sending files that are larger than 5 MB can pose a problem for many mail systems. The WGT634U

Wireless Media Router allows you to share very large files such as PowerPoint presentations or

ZIP files with colleagues at another site. Rather than tying up their mail systems will large files,

your colleagues can use FTP to easily download shared files from the WGT634U.

Figure 5-3:

Sharing files with remote users

Sharing files with a remote colleague involves the following steps:

1.

Using the 108 Mbps Wireless Media Router WGT634U configuration utility, assign a user

name and password for your colleague.

2.

Specify a share folder on the USB drive that the colleague can access.

3.

The remote colleague can use FTP from a Web browser or another FTP program to access the

shared folder on the USB drive. Access can be read only or read/write for remote users.

For more information, see

“Connecting to the USB Drive from a Remote Computer” on page 5-11

.

Understanding the USB Configuration Settings

To configure the USB disk drive settings, click the USB Drive Settings link in the main menu of

the browser interface. The USB Drive Settings screen appears, as shown below.

Home Network

USB Drive

Computer Connected to the

USB Drive Over the Internet

Wireless Notebook

Computer

Computers

Printer

WGT634U

Sharing Large Files With Colleagues

Remote Colleague

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Figure 5-4:

USB Drive Settings screen

The USB Drive Settings screen shows which login accounts are enabled and the share folders each

account has access to. The following fields are displayed:

Network Access

•

Host Name

. The host name you can use to access the USB drive from your network.

•

Workgroup

. If you are using a Windows Workgroup rather than a Domain, the

Workgroup name will be displayed here.

FTP Access

•

Status.

Access is enabled or disabled for the login account listed.

•

Login Name

. The user who has rights to access the USB disk drive.

•

Password

. For security purposes, the password for each login account is not displayed.

•

Share Folder

. The top directory of the USB drive the login account has access to.

•

Access Rights

. Read Only or Read & Write access to the top directory designated as the

share, and all directories below the share.