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    Question about USB HDD plugged into routers

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by Tailic, Sep 13, 2007.

  1. Tailic

    Tailic Notebook Deity

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    I'm curious how USB hard drives torrent files when plugged into some routers with USB ports. Does the router run the bit torrent client? How easy is it to manager the files the client is handling? Does it have you log into the router firmware to manage the uploading and downloading of files?

    How is the file transfer time over the USB bandwidth? Does it keep up with with wired or wireless n speeds?

    Does routers with two USB ports allow printer sharing?

    I'm considering buying a ASUS WL-500W or another router with the same capabilities (any others you guys know of?) and I'm wondering if its worth it before I go pluck down 120 dollars + 100 dollars for a usb hard drive.
     
    Tailic, Sep 13, 2007
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  2. Gautam

    Gautam election 2008 NBR Reviewer

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    I am not sure about your first question...I think you are referring to using a hard drive as a NAS. Please clarify.

    Regarding the bottleneck of a NAS - it will be at the router's transfer speed - so with N speeds, you'll max at a theoretical of 108Mbps. Of course, USB 2.0 is faster, but that won't be useful until router speeds surpass theoretical of 480Mbps...and of course there are other issues that I haven't even brought up.

    If your router has 2 USB ports (which I haven't seen for non-commercial purposes) then one can be for your NAS (HD) and the other for a USB printer.
     
    Gautam, Sep 14, 2007
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  3. Tailic

    Tailic Notebook Deity

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    Yeah I'm thinking about using it as a NAS (network-attached device right?) and I'm curious if it actually would work well as a bit torrent client/server. And I'm wondering how the software works for it, I think its firmware based but I don't know how much of a hassle is to adjust the settings.

    This is the Asus router I'm looking at right now, it looks good on paper but I would like more info on routers like this. Also is there any alternative routers I should consider?
     
    Tailic, Sep 14, 2007
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