Can I access my NAS from other places through Wifi?

[callmeleanh]

I recenly turn my old pc into a small NAS and I connected it to my house router using a Lan cable, but due to Covid my friends want to connect to the NAS from their home to upload and download file, is there any way that my friend can access the NAS without being at my house?

[manikyath]

if it's a synology, they have a thing for that.

 

if it's not a synology... it depends.

[RollinLower]

only way i know how to do this is to setup a VPN. i have a PPTP VPN running on my home router that enables me to control my servers from work. 

i'm still somewhat of a network noob though, so maybe someone else has a better solution.

[Biohazard777]

11 minutes ago, callmeleanh said:

I recenly turn my old pc into a small NAS and I connected it to my house router using a Lan cable, but due to Covid my friends want to connect to the NAS from their home to upload and download file, is there any way that my friend can access the NAS without being at my house?

Essentially boils down to 2 options:
1) Host a VPN server

2) Host an SFTP server
You will also want to google "ddns" and "how to open ports on router <insert router model here>".

 

[SupaKomputa]

10 minutes ago, manikyath said:

if it's not a synology... it depends.

Any NAS with a "cloud" function can do this.

WD cloud for instance.

[GuruOfNothing]

On 7/31/2021 at 2:00 AM, manikyath said:

if it's a synology, they have a thing for that.

 

if it's not a synology... it depends.

i GOTTA ASK...Does anyone ever read the OP's original post before poking at keys??? He said exactly this... "I recenly turn my old pc into a small NAS ". And you respond with "If it's a Synology"... face palm.

 

Sorry OP, the easy answer is no. Congrats on using recycled gear to make a useful device but without NAS software on it (that generally has options for doing what you want) there is no easy way to create access to it that won't compromise all your data and home network. Punching a hole in your network and allowing others to have access is not noob level work. There is a number of relatively technical steps required to do so.

 

And if manikyath's comment is any kind of example, if you don't pay close attention, it's super easy to get lost in the weeds and give some dipshit script kiddie a plaything to wreck havoc with.

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, GuruOfNothing said:

i GOTTA ASK...Does anyone ever read the OP's original post before poking at keys??? He said exactly this... "I recenly turn my old pc into a small NAS ". And you respond with "If it's a Synology"... face palm.

 

Sorry OP, the easy answer is no. Congrats on using recycled gear to make a useful device but without NAS software on it (that generally has options for doing what you want) there is no easy way to create access to it that won't compromise all your data and home network. Punching a hole in your network and allowing others to have access is not noob level work. There is a number of relatively technical steps required to do so.

 

And if manikyath's comment is any kind of example, if you don't pay close attention, it's super easy to get lost in the weeds and give some dipshit script kiddie a plaything to wreck havoc with.

well.. thanks for being a complete arse because i read over the first few words in his OP. yes.. i tend to "scan trough" posts instead of reading them word by word, but you just so happened to catch the one example where i missed a key bit of info.

 

besides, i've turned an old pc into a synology... so my question technically isnt even wrong. not gonna post direct links because i'm not sure how it relates to forum rules. (it's in the same boat as hackintosh, in a way)

 

on that note... on the topic of being helpful..

 

punching a hole in your firewall is almost never a necessity, at least not in some extremely security-compromising way.

if you set up sftp on an alternative port, and then make sure the password is at least secure enough... there's little to go wrong.

past that, depending on which OS we're dealing with, there's a heap of possibilities. if it's literally just a windows pc with some file shares, it's totally an option to just use teamviewer's file transfer, or set up a hamachi or radmin vpn.

[Dzaxis]

You could create a VPN server.such as openvpn or something depending on OS

Set up a FTP server would also work if its just downloading and uploading files

Or use a dyndns server and allow remote access. for example i can access mine anywhere just going to http://notmyrealone.dyndns.com:44678 and it brings me to my server once i login. though i would recommend mac filtering or something if its a permantnant solution so only specific macaddresses can authenticate.

i guess it depends on the kind of files they want to uplload or download. there's definitely ways of doing it