Network my HDD - help please

[smallclone]

Right then. I am looking to find a way to put my Seagate USB expansion drive on my network so my media player can see the files on it.

The expansion drive is noisy. Really noisy. So it can't go directly into the media player, and there are no extra mains points anyway.

I have a D Link router that is in router mode from my VM Superhub. I can't put the drive into that as it's in the same area as the media player. Too noisy. Really very noisy. And not enough plug sockets.

So, I have:

A switch that I use downstairs that is connected wired to my D-Link router. Into this switch is another Netgear router that I use for extra wifi coverage (I think I've turned DHCP off). The question is....can I use this to put a USB drive on somehow and share it? The drive does not have an ethernet connection. Just USB, and I've tried putting the drive into the USB of the Netgear router but it doesn't show up on my network, presumably as that function is turned off now (is this right? should it be usable?)

Can it be done? Either through the Netgear router or the switch somehow? or am I out of luck? Thanks.

[Jaymoss]

Have you read the manuals of the router that has a USB to ascertain what the function of it is?

I would also wonder why the drive is so noisy

Do you have a laptop or a tower? you could always add the drive to that and share it across the network.

Also your wired Network seems really complicated do you use all the lan ports ?
I personally would get rid of most of it in favour of a Mech system ( you can backhaul one to another ) and switches if you need the nics

[heero_yuy]

If you didn't want to have a full PC running all the time something small like a Raspberry Pi could run a media server and interface the drive to your network

[nomadking]

The drive won't show up as a network drive on the Netgear router/switch.
Netgear seem to have something called ReadySHARE.

Why you want it

• Connect a USB hard drive to your router and access that data from any device connected to your home network
• Once you’ve connected your external USB drive you can stream your media and backup your computer to the connected USB storage device.

Whether that applies to your model of Netgear router is another matter.

[smallclone]

Originally Posted by nomadking

The drive won't show up as a network drive on the Netgear router/switch.
Netgear seem to have something called ReadySHARE.
Whether that applies to your model of Netgear router is another matter.

Yeah I don't think it does, but thanks.

---------- Post added at 11:37 ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 ----------

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

If you didn't want to have a full PC running all the time something small like a Raspberry Pi could run a media server and interface the drive to your network

Now then, that's a great idea, I have just the device I think. I should have thought of this.

Thanks

---------- Post added at 11:39 ---------- Previous post was at 11:37 ----------

Originally Posted by Jaymoss

Have you read the manuals of the router that has a USB to ascertain what the function of it is?

I would also wonder why the drive is so noisy

Do you have a laptop or a tower? you could always add the drive to that and share it across the network.

Also your wired Network seems really complicated do you use all the lan ports ?
I personally would get rid of most of it in favour of a Mech system ( you can backhaul one to another ) and switches if you need the nics

It's a pretty cheap Seagate expansion drive, so I guess it's noisy because of that. No extra laptop or tower to put it in.

The wired network is complicated yes but it's the only way I can get the devices working that I need. I prefer wired to anything else, just for peace of mind.