Which external HDD to buy and how to connect it to smartphone

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Cetek16

Commendable
Jul 13, 2016
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(If you know answer for at least one question don't hesitate to answer).

Firstly i have to buy hdd. It would seem these two are the best:

  • Toshiba Canvio Basics 1TB USB 3.0
    Seagate Expansion Portable 1TB USB 3.0
If you have better ideas for similar price you can give me links.
Main purpose of it will be data backup and i would want to watch FHD/HD movies from it, so it has to be fast enough.

And here comes second question. I want to connect it to smartphone. I have few ideas.

I can connect it via LAN (tested on my internal hdd and it's working), but mi internet is way to slow for sharing movies when i'm too far away from wifi source, especially when i run out of data (4GB/s goes down to 200kb/s).

I can still connect it via LAN but i need something which will amplify my connection to tolerable level, or something that will share it without wifi (there are home servers to buy but they are way too expensive).

And third option - just buy powerbank to connect it directly to smartphone. Powerbank is needed to ensure proper power level. But it's not very convenient.

I appreciate any help.
 
Solution
madmatt30
The issue with a nas is you're still relying on your home network connection & when youve already had issues there streaming from pc to phone wirelessly then those issues will remain.

Those drives & mine wireless media hubs create their own internal network & so ypu can have them in the same room as the phone & they will create no such issue.

Already been through the available ones

The pny , the ravpower one (which is easily the best) & verbatim do one called the Verbatim Mediashare.

Offhand I can't think.of any others honestly.

There are also loads of non-descript generic mini routers with media sharing capability like this.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I00J8DW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_0PFoAb7YQCRBP

However the only place I...
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Of the two drives, Toshiba is 1000% better quality. Seagate drives are garbage these days.

As to connecting it to your phone, direct connection is a bad idea as most phones aren't powerful enough to run a HDD for any length of time. Using a USB hub will probably work, but it's not the most convenient option.

You mention your internet being slow, am I to assume that you want to stream these movies across the internet when you're not on the local network? Because on your internal LAN your internet has no bearing on speed. Local traffic never crosses the internet at all unless you've got something massively configured wrong.
 
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About direct connection - that's why i want to use powerbank, then it will have enough energy.

I'm turning on sharing in hard drive properties (i'm still testing on internal hdd, i still have to buy external), and then i'm connecting to it via app like ES File Manager. But speeds are changing, once i can watch FHD movie without any problems, few minutes after i have to wait 10 seconds to load a folder. When i'm like 2 rooms away from PC and router there's no way to watch anything. I'm connecting to hdd via LAN, but wifi has something to do with it.
 
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Any examples?
Edit
Do you mean NAS drives? Because Seagate drives are quite cheap, but our friend above says that it's garbage. And i have heard more bad opinions about them.
There's NAS case for hard drives from Tracer for less than 50 dollars, and i can connect everything what i want to it. And it's still will be cheaper than powerbank + all cables. If it works.
 
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Poland. Amazon and ebay are not an option. Just give me specific models and i will find it. Aliexpress is an option as long as this device will work fine.

Edit

Can we assume that TOSHIBA CANVIO BASICS 1TB USB 3.0 is good enough and i can buy it? Then we can think which device can let me share data wirelessly.
 
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Again not available, and USB 2.0 will probably make it quite slow. Just give me the list of potential devices and i will search for them on my own. I'm searching for them now.
 
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Too expensive, i have already bought classic 1TB Toshiba. But now i would want to stream it too laptop and smartphone. Such devices exists, but they are extremely rare. I will try to get something via Amazon, but it may not work.
 
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The issue with a nas is you're still relying on your home network connection & when youve already had issues there streaming from pc to phone wirelessly then those issues will remain.

Those drives & mine wireless media hubs create their own internal network & so ypu can have them in the same room as the phone & they will create no such issue.

Already been through the available ones

The pny , the ravpower one (which is easily the best) & verbatim do one called the Verbatim Mediashare.

Offhand I can't think.of any others honestly.

There are also loads of non-descript generic mini routers with media sharing capability like this.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I00J8DW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_0PFoAb7YQCRBP

However the only place I can find stuff like that is on ebay or Amazon.
 
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Solution
The last one is interesting, but i think as mobile router it requires "wifi card" from internet operator. I'm not sure it can create own LAN on it's own.

It gives me some clues about what i'm looking for, so thanks. I know what i need but it's hard to find it.
 
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It 100% can create its own lan with no extra hardware.
For the sole purpose of sharing portable hard drive media to your phone it will absolutely do the job with no trouble at all.

It can also act as a wireless bridge in theory 'boosting your current wireless network' & allowing net access too.
 
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Ok. On which parameters should i look if i need good signal for media sharing? Because in best case scenario it should work just fine through 3 rooms. (router in room 1 sends signal through room 2 to room 3).
 
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