Wireless Connection to External HD

[MTBMaven]

I have an external hard drive (250GB Segate) that I want to connect to wirelessly. I would like to leave the HD in one room and be able to connect to it from any location within my apartment.

I have a Linksys wireless route, but don't think it's a print server. I'm a PC guy and am using Windows Vista on one laptop and XP Home on another.

What would I need to make this work?

[LBmtb]

The new Apple airport does it: Apple - AirPort Extreme - Sharing

Instant drive sharing.

New to AirPort Extreme, AirPort Disk turns almost any external USB hard drive into a shared drive. Simply connect the drive to the USB port on the back of your AirPort Extreme and — voila — all the documents, videos, photos, and other files on the drive instantly become available to anyone on the secure network, Mac and PC alike. It’s perfect for backups, collaborative projects, and more.
A simple-to-use AirPort Disk Utility gives you more setup options. You could set the disk to become available whenever you connect to the network. You could set up password-protected accounts for everybody on the network, or allow read-only access to certain files and folders. The choice is yours.

[MTBMaven]

Originally Posted by LBmtb

The new Apple airport does it: Apple - AirPort Extreme - Sharing

Someone at work mentioned the AirPort but it sounded like there were some limitations. Something like I would not be able to still use my existing wireless route, which is my connection to the internet.

Does that sound true?

How does the AirPort integrate with my existing wireless network?

[LBmtb]

Originally Posted by MTBMaven

Someone at work mentioned the AirPort but it sounded like there were some limitations. Something like I would not be able to still use my existing wireless route, which is my connection to the internet.

Does that sound true?

How does the AirPort integrate with my existing wireless network?

It would replace your existing wireless router. You can also use the airport as a print server, btw.

[Winger]

I wanted to do a central storage on my network for mp3's and videos. I was going to buy a network adapter for the USB Hard Drive, but then I realized that I could just install the hard drive on my desktop. I doubt I'd go through $70 in electricity in 2 years.

Setup:
-Desktop w/ 300GB Internal HD, shared, hard wired to wireless router.
-External HD to backup the 300GB internal drive. (Leave it off in case virus goes through network)
-All Laptops & Desktops mapped drive to shared 300GB Drive.

[Edog]

You can buy an external network drive housing for about $70. Switch the HD over & now you can plug the hard drive directly into your router & access it anywhere on your network. I have all my media on a drive like this & my laptop accesses the files via wireless. Network drives are also good to hide. I installed one in a friends attic, & they save all there sensitive records to it(backed up to DVD as well) That way if somebody steals your computer they aren't getting all your files

I also did what winger surgested above, if it's your only drive partrion it to C & D, to allow easier set up & access on the network

[SAR_boats]

I think Panasonic or Hitachi came out with a wireless USB router recently. That might work

[0gravity]

That's all very interesting about the airport. I've got two airport expresses acting as a relay to get the signal from an office to the rest of my palatial 2brm. Do you know if the airport express (as oppossed to Extreme) alsoa allows that kind of file sharing? That would be a good way for me to access all my music from two different laptops.

[MTBMaven]

Originally Posted by Edog

You can buy an external network drive housing for about $70. Switch the HD over & now you can plug the hard drive directly into your router & access it anywhere on your network.

Okay, so I work in my city's IT department but really I'm just a geographer. When it comes to some of this stuff I'm a bit slow, not ignorant, just slow.

You mentioned an "external network drive." Could you recommend a model and/or brand?

What do you mean by "switch the HD over?" Over to what?

[Pain Freak]

I don't think you guys are allowed to use that kind of language on this site....

I'm telling the mod!