The meaning of life or in this case is that the purpose of the MPW is to be a portable media streamer, backup and SD Card backup for other portable devices. and you can keep it organized via USB cable for faster file/folder maintenance than via WiFi.
It’s not meant to be/replace:
NAS
DAS
iTunes server
Network extension
Other stationary storage purposes.
It’s a portable battery run device, buy and use it as that.
For other uses there are better alternatives and probably much cheaper.
I’m not saying you can’t use it for a lot of other purposes as you can, some with ease and some after some hacking and tweeking, but for me thats is as reinventing the wheel when there are ready to use and better options for special uses.
I wrote this more like a help for all the posts type “Can I use it for this or that” questions, so if someone cleaned and corrected my initial post and pinned it we might get rid of some of the “unproper” questions
Well said,Cekari. Nevertheless, my MPW is stationary more than portable, so when not being used as portable it sits quietly connected to home network (where it can be accessed (at far greater distance than it can as a portable) and be part of the arsenal of media servers in the home.
WHAT are you “saving” it for?? Anyway, one of its intended purposes is to connect it to a home network. Since I am not running around away from home packing a MPW often, if it was not connected to the home network, it would just sit around and collect dust at my house! If I were to use it at home in direct connect mode, then I would not have an internet connection on my mobile device. On a home network is best when at home where it can be accessed. and as i mentioned in other threads, it is faster this way than stand alone since one can use 5G signal to network to access it.
Sure you can use it as a stationary, I do prefer not to, to save it for when I really need it out in the field thou.
You CAN use it for a lot of not intended purposes if you so want to, some easy to implement other more difficult.
Just trying to point out that there are other devices intended for uses that the MPW doesn’t shine on so to say.
Your right, the MPW is designed mainly to be a portable and not a NAS, DAS, server, etc… And having the ability to connect to a Home Network doesn’t mean that it’s primary use is to be used at Home since a Home Network just means local network and can be at your home, someone elses home, a hotel…
However, that does not mean that it is not meant for other uses also. The MPW is actually designed to be a Swiss Army Knife rather than a butter knife. You want to connect it to your home network and access over wifi…you can. You want to connected directly to your PC or a media streamer (like the WDTV) and watch a movie…you can. You want use a tablet and connect directly to it because there’s no network to connect to…you can.
You can’t put the MPW in a box (no punn intended), it’s not a stationary device, it’s not a portable device, it’s not a wifi device and it’s not a USB connected device…it’s all these things. If you only need something that does one of those things, then yes, there are cheaper and better alternatives (if all you need is a NAS, then get a NAS) but people who are going to or should buy this are those that need all these things in one device.
Tinwarble, or anyone, here is a question to answer:
So, my router accepts a hard drive and printer on its two USB2 ports. I have a 1TB portable drive connected to it already. Although it is a router and not a PC, do you think I could connect the MPW to the open port on router (thus skipping the MPW connected to router wirelessly as it is now)? i.e. be wired vs wireless?
Depends on your router. Not all routers USB port allow for adding a share drive.
But if your router does, then yes. You may need to format the drive to NTFS or FAT32 (again depends on the router). But yes, pretty much anything you can do with a standard portable drive you can do with the MPW.
Hmmm, I am not going to re-format it from exFAT, and I don’t think it accepts a shared drive. So, I will leave things alone unless I just want to try it as is and see what happens. My MPW is accessable now everywhere on my network, but the drive on Asus router isn’t. Only PC and Asus AiCloud app can access it. Go figure.
BTW, I see you are using a WD router with HD inside. Thanks for reply.
Sure you are right that is a Swiss Army Knife, but with a twist for portable. All I’m saying is that there are other devices that are made for a stationary life so to say that are cheaper, faster etc.
