media fred

Q: Connecting a hard drive to an Extreme N

Using an Airport Extreme N:

 

1. Is there a way to connect 2 hard drives, one for a TM backup and one to share files?

2. Is there a way to access videos from a hard drive connected to the Extreme on an iPad?

3. Does playback of video from a connected hard drive slow down the entire network while it is being played?

 

Thanks!

Posted on Jan 2, 2014 11:22 AM

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Q: Connecting a hard drive to an Extreme N

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  • by Bob Timmons,Helpful

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Jan 2, 2014 11:42 AM in response to media fred
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    Jan 2, 2014 11:42 AM in response to media fred

    Is there a way to connect 2 hard drives, one for a TM backup and one to share files?

    Connect a powered USB hub to the USB port on the AirPort Extreme.  Once the powered hub is connected to the AirPort Extreme, most hubs have 4 additional ports that you can use.

     

    Is there a way to access videos from a hard drive connected to the Extreme on an iPad?

    A third party application like Filebrowser will allow you to do this.  Stratospherix - FileBrowser - Overview

     

    Does playback of video from a connected hard drive slow down the entire network while it is being played?

    Impossible to say until you try it out on your network, even if we had pages of information about your network. 

  • by media fred,

    media fred media fred Jan 2, 2014 6:01 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jan 2, 2014 6:01 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    1. How does the shared hard drive display to a Windows user? On my Mac it shows up under "Computer" Where does it display on a PC?

     

    2. I tried it out and it seems like the video sometimes chokes, and I'm wondering why it uses USB as the connection to send data. Is connecting a drive to the Extreme not the best way to share video because it is USB based? Are there any advantages to sharing video/files this way over doing it directly on my Mac?

     

    Thanks.

  • by Bob Timmons,Solvedanswer

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Jan 2, 2014 6:08 PM in response to media fred
    Level 10 (105,268 points)
    Wireless
    Jan 2, 2014 6:08 PM in response to media fred
    Where does it display on a PC?

     

    Sorry, I don't have a PC here to test, and this question was not included in your original post.

     

    Apple's support document on this is here, but I cannot provide support on this.

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1331?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

     

    Is connecting a drive to the Extreme not the best way to share video because it is USB based?

    Correct, since data will transfer at about half the speed that it does compared to the data rate at a USB port on a computer.