Easy/cheap shared drive

[ThunderPants73]

Hi,

I have movies stored on my PC that I would like to access from my TV without the PC having to be on. I know I can use a NAS and transfer the files to that but is there a cheaper solution? Could I connect a harddrive to my router? (Well, another router as my VM hub does not have a USB port).

Basically I want to write stuff to a drive and stream to my TV without the need for the PC being on, or having to disconnect and reconnect a drive from PC to TV.

[nomadking]

Depends on how much data you're intending to use at any given time.
For less than £15, you could get a 128Gb USB stick. Upload using PC, plug into TV.

[ThunderPants73]

Originally Posted by nomadking

Depends on how much data you're intending to use at any given time.
For less than £15, you could get a 128Gb USB stick. Upload using PC, plug into TV.

Not really what I'm after. Like I said, I don't want something I have to connect/disconnect. I already have a 2TB external drive, was wondering if there was a way to connect to router.

[tweetiepooh]

My Router (Netgear R7000) has USB ports and you then set it up to offer network shares. I sure other routers offer similar.

[ThunderPants73]

Originally Posted by tweetiepooh

My Router (Netgear R7000) has USB ports and you then set it up to offer network shares. I sure other routers offer similar.

I was thinking of going that route(r). Would I be right in thinking that I could turn the VM router onto MODEM mode and connect another router with a USB port? Shame I can't just ditch the VM router, but apparently, it's the only was to get an internet connection. Do you think I'd be able to stream 4K movies to my TV with this setup?

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by ThunderPants73

I was thinking of going that route(r). Would I be right in thinking that I could turn the VM router onto MODEM mode and connect another router with a USB port? Shame I can't just ditch the VM router, but apparently, it's the only was to get an internet connection. Do you think I'd be able to stream 4K movies to my TV with this setup?

You would need to use an Ethernet cable from the wan port of your new router into the virgin router.

An old Asus RTAC66-U will do the job perfectly well, has a USB port plug a drive in and can be configured as a DLNA server.

Streaming 4k mainly depends on the connection speed and strength of the link between your TV and the router. Ideally you want 50mbps between router and TV if using wireless

[jonbxx]

To keep the kids occupied on long card journeys, I use a travel router and a portable hard drive to feed movies to the kids tablets. The router I use is discontinued but works as a DLNA server which can be picked up by many media players once connected to that wifi network.

Something like this would work if you want a truly portable solution;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VBAE5..._5yj-DbTWNV992

Very useful when travelling too if hotel Wifi is slow or you pay per device as you can connect wired and it acts as a wifi bridge