Is wireless storage a thing?

[TooUnskilled]

Not cloud storage. Essentially, same thing as your phone when it comes to storage. Device that can connect to your pc wirelessly, and has a respectable amount of memory you can use.

Think wireless external hard drive.

 

I might be just experiencing a brain fart, but I can't recall seeing such a thing, and it seems like such an obviously useful product. Whether over wifi, or using a wireless usb attachment, like mice and keyboards do.

Wireless transfer speeds are fast enough now that I can see people willing to take a small hit, when compared to wired solutions, for the added convenience.

[BiotechBen]

A NAS with remote access via a VPN or wireless network would probably fill that request 

[da na]

Yeah you could have a NAS over WiFi, I did that to have my own personal file drive on my school's campus last year. Set up a shared folder on the network I could access from anywhere on campus. But even on the campus wifi it was between 500kbps and 2mbps so it was awful for anything but small photos and Word docs. Can't imagine how slow that would be on two different networks, ex. if you were traveling and wanted to access files... 

[igormp]

You mean like one of those?

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/cloud-storage/wd-my-cloud-home#WDBVXC0040HWT-NESN

 

As said above, a NAS works like that as well.

[LAwLz]

Yes they exist. A quick Google search for "wireless hard drive" gives a ton of results, including ones from reputable brands like SanDisk, WD and Asus. 

 

There is one. 

https://www.amazon.com/Passport-Wireless-Portable-external-Drive/dp/B06X19D3ZB/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=WD+My+Passport+Wireless&qid=1659800104&sr=8-3

 

[TooUnskilled]

21 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Yes they exist. A quick Google search for "wireless hard drive" gives a ton of results, including ones from reputable brands like SanDisk, WD and Asus. 

 

There is one. 

https://www.amazon.com/Passport-Wireless-Portable-external-Drive/dp/B06X19D3ZB/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=WD+My+Passport+Wireless&qid=1659800104&sr=8-3

 

I wonder if it only has 1TB of storage because it's overloaded with features, or if the battery takes up too much space.

22 minutes ago, igormp said:

You mean like one of those?

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/cloud-storage/wd-my-cloud-home#WDBVXC0040HWT-NESN

 

As said above, a NAS works like that as well.

No, that's apparently local storage that you can only access through the cloud? The fuck

22 minutes ago, Mel0n. said:

Yeah you could have a NAS over WiFi, I did that to have my own personal file drive on my school's campus last year. Set up a shared folder on the network I could access from anywhere on campus. But even on the campus wifi it was between 500kbps and 2mbps so it was awful for anything but small photos and Word docs. Can't imagine how slow that would be on two different networks, ex. if you were traveling and wanted to access files... 

If I'm travelling, I'm just taking it with me, since I'm talking about something the size of a hard drive.

25 minutes ago, BiotechBen said:

A NAS with remote access via a VPN or wireless network would probably fill that request 

That seems like overcomplicating a simple concept.

 

 

What I'm talking about is an external hard drive that you plug in to the wall wherever you want in your home, and it's still accessible wirelessly by your computer.

Not a solution that requires configuration, just dumb storage that uses wifi, or whatever other local wireless format would be fast enough to work.

 

Maybe there just aren't that many people who want their local storage to be wireless, but are also not willing to spend enough time/money to set up a NAS.

The products I'm finding seem to be meant for online access on the go, or battery powered hard drives.

[da na]

1 minute ago, TooUnskilled said:

I wonder if it only has 1TB of storage because it's overloaded with features, or if the battery takes up too much space.

No, that's apparently local storage that you can only access through the cloud? The fuck

If I'm travelling, I'm just taking it with me, since I'm talking about something the size of a hard drive.

That seems like overcomplicating a simple concept.

 

 

What I'm talking about is an external hard drive that you plug in to the wall wherever you want in your home, and it's still accessible wirelessly by your computer.

Not a solution that requires configuration, just dumb storage that uses wifi, or whatever other local wireless format would be fast enough to work.

 

Maybe there just aren't that many people who want their local storage to be wireless, but are also not willing to spend enough time/money to set up a NAS.

The products I'm finding seem to be meant for online access on the go, or battery powered hard drives.

Why not just use a hard drive?
There's nothing that will autoconnect to any wifi network wherever you go.

[igormp]

2 minutes ago, TooUnskilled said:

No, that's apparently local storage that you can only access through the cloud? The fuck

No, it's a "local cloud" (just a marketing term), you can access it through your LAN just like a NAS.

[TooUnskilled]

1 minute ago, Mel0n. said:

Why not just use a hard drive?
There's nothing that will autoconnect to any wifi network wherever you go.

An external hard drive is pretty much what I'm talking about. I don't want it for use on the go, I want it for use at home.

I just don't want it taking up space near my pc, so it'd be nice if there was something I could plug in to the wall in some remote corner in my home, and access it wirelessly across all my devices (at home).

[BondiBlue]

10 minutes ago, TooUnskilled said:

An external hard drive is pretty much what I'm talking about. I don't want it for use on the go, I want it for use at home.

I just don't want it taking up space near my pc, so it'd be nice if there was something I could plug in to the wall in some remote corner in my home, and access it wirelessly across all my devices (at home).

You're talking about a NAS. You can get small NAS units that are the size of a couple external hard drives, and all they need is power and a network connection. Typically you'd connect it directly to your router through ethernet, and then you can access it from any device on your network. 

[TooUnskilled]

4 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

You're talking about a NAS. You can get small NAS units that are the size of a couple external hard drives, and all they need is power and a network connection. Typically you'd connect it directly to your router through ethernet, and then you can access it from any device on your network. 

It's the premium version of what I'm talking about. 

What I'm talking about is what a wireless mouse is to a wired mouse. You're talking about the shell of a wireless mouse, that you then plug a regular mouse (or multiple) into.

 

To be clear here, I'm not looking for alternatives to a wireless external hard drive (or SSD), I am looking for exactly that. With no added gimmicks, like battery power, or online functionality. Not that those things are necessarily bad, they just seem to add to the cost, and remove from the storage amount. And sometimes they're just bad.

 

19 minutes ago, igormp said:

No, it's a "local cloud" (just a marketing term), you can access it through your LAN just like a NAS.

The review, and the response from the company rep say you need internet access, which kinda defeats the purpose of local storage. Unless I'm reading it wrong, which I could be.

[BondiBlue]

13 minutes ago, TooUnskilled said:

It's the premium version of what I'm talking about. 

What I'm talking about is what a wireless mouse is to a wired mouse. You're talking about the shell of a wireless mouse, that you then plug a regular mouse (or multiple) into.

 

To be clear here, I'm not looking for alternatives to a wireless external hard drive (or SSD), I am looking for exactly that. With no added gimmicks, like battery power, or online functionality. Not that those things are necessarily bad, they just seem to add to the cost, and remove from the storage amount. And sometimes they're just bad.

Not really. If you're wanting a single storage device (even if it contains multiple hard drives inside for redundancy or just extra storage) and you want to access it from any device on your network then a NAS is exactly that. You can build your own out of an old computer or buy one off the shelf and add your own drives. 

 

I don't understand your mouse analogy based on the fact that you want to use this single storage device from multiple client devices. 

[TooUnskilled]

1 minute ago, BondiBlue said:

Not really. If you're wanting a single storage device (even if it contains multiple hard drives inside for redundancy or just extra storage) and you want to access it from any device on your network then a NAS is exactly that. You can build your own out of an old computer or buy one off the shelf and add your own drives. 

 

I don't understand your mouse analogy based on the fact that you want to use this single storage device from multiple client devices. 

That's a fair point, wired ones connect to one device at a time. I just assumed a wireless one would allow for simultaneous access, since there's no physical limitation in the form of usb ports. 

A NAS solves the same issues (more even) as a wireless external hard drive, but it's still not the same thing. 

I guess since it satisfies the same demand for wireless local storage, it makes sense that wireless external hard drives seem to be marketed as travel solutions instead. Anyone who wants wireless local storage either pays extra for a NAS, or gives up on the wireless part and buys a regular external hard drive for a lower price.

[LAwLz]

2 hours ago, BondiBlue said:

I don't understand your mouse analogy based on the fact that you want to use this single storage device from multiple client devices. 

I don't think OP is asking for a NAS.

 

What OP wants is something the size of a hard drive to take with him when he is out and about. He wants it to be locally stored things as well, not pulled from over the Internet.

I think that what I linked is what he wants. It's a portable hard drive, with a built in power bank and it can create a wireless network so that you can access the stored files wirelessly.

[BondiBlue]

26 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

I don't think OP is asking for a NAS.

 

What OP wants is something the size of a hard drive to take with him when he is out and about. He wants it to be locally stored things as well, not pulled from over the Internet.

I think that what I linked is what he wants. It's a portable hard drive, with a built in power bank and it can create a wireless network so that you can access the stored files wirelessly.

Ah, I missed the part where they want something they can also take with them out of the house. If they didn't need that then a NAS is what they'd need, but yeah, it's not a very portable solution. I think the drive you linked is probably one of the best options, though I don't know how well it would work for home use. It seems to require devices to connect directly to a Wi-Fi network that it creates itself, and I don't know if there's any way for it to pass through an internet connection from another network.