NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
problem with r6300 external hard drive in access point mode
Running firmware V1.0.4.6_10.0.7, current AFAIK. I've tried repeatedly to connect a 1TB hard drive to the router with little or no success. It's a WD Blue drive in a Sabrent enclosure. It worked fin...
I returned the router to Amazon. It was obvious that Netgear was not interested in solving the problem. The idea that a USB device that doesn't require a driver is incompatible with the router firmware strains even the most flexible credulity. This is clearly a situation where bits is bits and the router's only job is to forward them. I could understand the DLNA software not being up to the job. This is true with some routers. I'm guessing not enough resources allocated to manage the database. The inability of the router to deal with SMB indicates a serious design defect. The reason I want to use the router is to have a source that's available at any time without the need to have a computer on. I'm back to my aging wireless N router and it works flawlessly for the media. It doesn't have the wireless signal strength of the Netgear router but it's OK as a wired access point. I wanted to improve the wireless part but not at the expense of the media serving.
Got a "fascinating" response from Netgear about the problem. The drive is not on the compatibility list. I looked at the list and it's actually a "list of USB drives have been reported to work with R6300v2," in other words drives that have been tested and work, nothing about drives that don't work. It appears that the drive hasn't been tested. Since the list also appears to include only drives sold as USB drives and mine is a standard WD desktop drive in an aftermarket enclosure I'm not surprised that it's not there. Since USB drives almost always contain standard desktop drives in a box with a USB interface my drive may actually be in one of the WD drives on the compatible list. I've tried the drive in 2 different enclosures and it works fine with the computers in my house. It also works with the router I was hoping to replace, an ASUS wireless n model that's been out for at least 5 years. Fortunately I'm within the Amazon return window. I'm disappointed with the bad faith customer service has demonstrated in this case.
I returned the router to Amazon. It was obvious that Netgear was not interested in solving the problem. The idea that a USB device that doesn't require a driver is incompatible with the router firmware strains even the most flexible credulity. This is clearly a situation where bits is bits and the router's only job is to forward them. I could understand the DLNA software not being up to the job. This is true with some routers. I'm guessing not enough resources allocated to manage the database. The inability of the router to deal with SMB indicates a serious design defect. The reason I want to use the router is to have a source that's available at any time without the need to have a computer on. I'm back to my aging wireless N router and it works flawlessly for the media. It doesn't have the wireless signal strength of the Netgear router but it's OK as a wired access point. I wanted to improve the wireless part but not at the expense of the media serving.
nippy_katz wrote:
I wanted to improve the wireless part but not at the expense of the media serving.
You could deploy an 802.11ac router as an access point, and continue to use your current router as the router/storage device.
