Connect Seagate expansion external hard drive via Router

Question

Recently I have brought Seagate expansion 2TB. I have desktop as well as laptop. How can I access the Seagate expansion on both the machines or one of machine, without changing the location of hard drive continuously? There is 1 way to do so, I can connect the hard drive either of 2 and share that drive over LAN. I don’t want to do that as for that it makes me compulsion that I need to turn on the machine on which I have connected the drive.

While researching on google, I come to know that we can connect the same hard disk to router via USB. Is it really true? When I checked my router, it got no USB ports. Here you can find my router details.

Even if I we figured out the solution for accessing the external drive via routes, can I access the same on android tab/phone and iPad?

What kind of connector I need to buy for this?

Answer 1

This really depends on your actual router. If it doesn't come with a USB port, then you're out of luck already. There are small NAS adapters out there, essentially allowing you to connect an USB device to a classic network cable, providing a small NAS.

Also keep in mind that those router hubs typically only provide some minimum spec voltage (actually depends on the model), so you might need some additional power supply for your hard drive as well.

I assume buying a new router is out of question (and would be a bit overkill as well), I'd suggest you have a look at the Raspberry Pi.

Essentially it's a tiny ARM based PC with USB ports, HDMI, and a few other connectors.

I've found this example guide to turn your Turn Your Raspberry Pi into a Travel-Friendly NAS. This requires some minimal knowledge in using Linux (but most is explained).

What you're looking into are maybe about 50 $ for the Raspberry Pi, a USB power supply, a SD card, and some plastic cover (optional, but recommended).

If you get this working, your Android and iOS devices should be able to access it, you'll just need a proper app for doing so.