Susan Slater
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Using Wifi Hard Drive

I want to take the accounting for my small business offsite and still have some files be able to be accessed at the office.  Can I purchase a wifi hard drive for this?  Both sites have wifi.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Sep 13, 2016 9:56 AM

by Dr.Mac.,Solvedanswer
Dr.Mac. Dr.Mac.
Level 3 (636 points)
A:

A single hard drive with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity will work. Moving up in sophistication, NAS solutions can provide additional ports, enabling you to  connect additional external hard drives to scale your business's overall  Wi-Fi storage capacity.

Posted on Sep 14, 2016 6:56 AM

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Susan Slater

Q: Using Wifi Hard Drive

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 13, 2016 11:27 AM in response to Susan Slater
    Level 9 (71,200 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 13, 2016 11:27 AM in response to Susan Slater

    You might try looking here.

     

    Other World Computing

  • by Susan Slater,

    Susan Slater Susan Slater Sep 13, 2016 11:37 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 13, 2016 11:37 AM in response to Eric Root

    I see nothing on this site that helps.  They don't even carry wifi hard drives!

  • by Dr.Mac.,

    Dr.Mac. Dr.Mac. Sep 13, 2016 12:01 PM in response to Susan Slater
    Level 3 (636 points)
    Sep 13, 2016 12:01 PM in response to Susan Slater
    • Seagate Wireless Plus Mobile Storage
    • WD My Passport Wireless
    • Corsair Voyager Air
    • SanDisk Connect Wireless Media Drive

  • by Susan Slater,

    Susan Slater Susan Slater Sep 13, 2016 1:09 PM in response to Dr.Mac.
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 13, 2016 1:09 PM in response to Dr.Mac.

    I'm aware of the different drives I can use.  I just want to make sure that this solution will work.

  • by Dr.Mac.,Solvedanswer

    Dr.Mac. Dr.Mac. Sep 14, 2016 6:56 AM in response to Susan Slater
    Level 3 (636 points)
    Sep 14, 2016 6:56 AM in response to Susan Slater

    A single hard drive with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity will work. Moving up in sophistication, NAS solutions can provide additional ports, enabling you to  connect additional external hard drives to scale your business's overall  Wi-Fi storage capacity.

  • by Susan Slater,

    Susan Slater Susan Slater Sep 14, 2016 7:09 AM in response to Dr.Mac.
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2016 7:09 AM in response to Dr.Mac.

    Thanks!  I will look into NAS but think the wifi drive will work for now.  I just wanted a confirmation before I spend the money.

  • by BobHarris,Helpful

    BobHarris BobHarris Sep 14, 2016 5:39 PM in response to Susan Slater
    Level 6 (19,410 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2016 5:39 PM in response to Susan Slater

    A WiFi drive is technically a NAS (Network Accessible Storage).  It just depends on how sophisticated you want to get.

     

    If your data is not too sensitive, you could even just use something like Dropbox on all the Macs or Windows systems that need to share that data.

     

    If the data is going to be attached to a Mac, you can use System Preferences -> iCloud -> Back-to-My-Mac to have remote Mac mount and access that data over a secure connection.  Remote can be a foot away, as long as it is happening over a network.

     

    There are also system such as 'Synology' or 'Transporter' which allow remote access.

  • by Susan Slater,

    Susan Slater Susan Slater Sep 14, 2016 5:47 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2016 5:47 PM in response to BobHarris

    I want a 1-2T hard drive that can be accessed from 150 miles apart.  We use dropbox within the office and offsite but it is pretty full and won't handle my additional information without paying for additional space.  I just want a hard drive that 2 computers far apart can use.

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Sep 14, 2016 6:25 PM in response to Susan Slater
    Level 6 (19,410 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2016 6:25 PM in response to Susan Slater

    Susan Slater wrote:

     

    I want a 1-2T hard drive that can be accessed from 150 miles apart.  We use dropbox within the office and offsite but it is pretty full and won't handle my additional information without paying for additional space.  I just want a hard drive that 2 computers far apart can use.

    If the hard drive can live with one of the computers, then any external disk on that compuer, and System Preferences -> iCloud -> Back-to-My-Mac would be a good easy choice.

     

    It is easy to test, as you do not even need to buy the disk just yet to prove you can access another Mac via Back-to-My-Mac.

     

    If both Macs are laptops, and attaching an external disk is going to be a problem, then start looking at a WiFi/NAS device.

  • by Susan Slater,

    Susan Slater Susan Slater Sep 15, 2016 1:33 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 15, 2016 1:33 PM in response to BobHarris

    I enabled Back-to-My-Mac and received a prompt saying this:Screen Shot 2016-09-15 at 4.31.06 PM.png

    I checked with at&t and their routers don't support this and can't be modified for it.  So I think I'm back to a wireless hard drive again.