Hello everybody!
In this video, I’m going to show you how to set up the storage feature on your router,
how to configure FTP, media and print server on a router with a USB port, and also how
to connect a printer to the router and make it accessible within
your network.
Most present-day routers featuring a USB port can be configured to use a number of additional
functions.
For example, by connecting an external storage (for example, a hard disk) you can build your
own server to keep videos, photos and other files.
By configuring the storage sharing feature you will be able to access the files on such
disk from any computer or mobile device within your network.
And when you connect a printer to your router, any device within this network will be able
to print out documents.
Such connection lets you print from any device connected by Wi-Fi and sparing you the efforts
of untangling all those wires and cables.
Storage sharing and configuring an FTP server Let’s begin with Storage Sharing and configuring
an FTP server.
For starters, find out if your router has a USB port.
If it does, you can move on to configure an FTP server, and arrange access from the local
network and Internet to files inside the local storage device.
In fact, it is very convenient, and as soon as you try it, you’ll ask yourselves: how
could I live without it before?
By the way, you can access the files in your storage not only from the local network but
also remotely - from anywhere on the Internet.
All you need to know is the external IP address you obtain from your Internet provider.
This way, you will be able to access your files in the external hard disk connected
to the router from virtually anywhere - as long as you have an Internet connection.
I will show you all the settings with the example of this router, TP-LINK Archer C20.
Connect a hard disk or USB drive to the router, and open its settings.
Make sure the router is turned on.
Open any browser and type the router address (you can see it on the special sticker).
Give the default name and password - “admin” and “admin.”
Go to the tab “USB Settings” / “Storage Sharing.”
In this page, you can configure the USB drive connected to the router.
You will also see properties of the shared device, that is: share name, path, user access
rights and status.
Click “Enable” to turn on shared access to a storage device.
When you see the drive is connected, move on to the tab “FTP Server.”
By default, it should be turned on, and if it isn’t, just click on “Enable.”
After the drive is connected to the router, a directory with the name “volume” will
be created by default, providing access to all files in such drive.
By default, this means access to the entire drive, with administrator rights.
That is, the FTP server is running and you can access the drive from any device connected
to this network.
To do it, use your computer to start the Windows Explorer and follow the address given in the
settings on the right, where the directions are given.
You need to give the username and password to be granted access.
This is the same data you had to enter when trying to open the router settings (the default
values - admin and admin).
Open the Windows Explorer on your computer and go to the address specified in the router
settings.
If the address is correct, you will be requested to enter the username and password.
When you log in successfully, you will see the files stored on this USB drive or external
hard disk connected to the router.
All these files will be displayed in the “volume” folder.
Here, you can also create new folders and copy your files there, view the available
files and add new.
To save yourselves the trouble of having to type the address in the Windows Explorer all
the time, create a network drive.
Open the File Explorer and select “Map as drive.”
In the window that appears, copy the network drive address into the Folder field, click
Browse, confirm your choice of the folder and click Finish.
The folder containing files will appear at once.
If the system asks you for a password, enter it.
The network drive will be displayed in the File Explorer, when you click on This PC,
and you will be able to access the drive in no time.
If you are using a mobile device, you need to connect to your router’s network and
use a file manager to access the network drive.
Download any file manager software, for example, for example “ES File Explorer.”
If you have an Android phone or tablet PC, you can use this file manager to open a folder
in your local network.
But the first thing you need is to connect to your network by Wi-Fi.
After that, install the application from Google Play Store.
Start the application, open the menu, go to Network / LAN, and you will see the network
address of the folder.
Tap on it, and you will see the “volume” folder with all of its files.
If you go to LAN, and there is nothing to display, tap Scan, and all network devices
within this network should appear.
Now just select the device you want to connect to.
You may see a window asking you for the login and password to proceed with connecting.
Now you can do many things right from your phone: view, delete and copy new files, create
new folders and so on.
Configuring account and FTP server folder for TP-LINK
The following settings are not obligatory, and you only need them if you want to set
up access for certain users with different access rights.
First of all, several accounts can be created.
For example, a guest account - which cannot have full access to the drive but only to
a specific folder, and with certain rights only.
With read-only access, such account will not be permitted to modify files.
For starters, let’s create a user.
In the router settings, open the tab USB Settings / User Accounts.
The default user account is admin*.
In order to create a new one, fill in the fields below:
Choose an index for the new user.
Give a username.
Enter the password, and then re-enter it for confirmation.
Click Set, and the new user will appear in this table.
You can also enable, disable, delete or edit a user account.
Now let’s go back to the tab “FTP Server.”
In this tab, you will see a table which contains, by default, one network storage, “volume.”
This way, access is permitted to the entire drive, that is, its root folder.
If you want, you can create one more folder, access to which would be granted to a particular
user or group of users with certain rights.
Otherwise, you can modify access rights to the entire storage device for a certain user
account.
Let us create one more shared item by selecting “Add New Folder.”
In the field “Share Name,” type the folder name and click “Browse.”
Select your drive and specify the necessary folder.
Please note that you cannot select a folder if its name is given in letters other than
Latin.
If that’s your case, you will have to rename it.
After you have chosen the folder, you can configure authorization access for a certain
user account.
Check the necessary options in the table next to the user account name.
You have three variants to choose from: Full Access, Read Only, No Access.
Then click Apply.
The chosen folder will appear in the table, and you can see access rights for every user
account.
You can configure the user access to each folder by clicking the Edit button.
Media Server In this page, you can configure the media
server.
To do that, Plug an external USB hard disk drive or USB
flash drive into the router.
Click the Enable button to start the media server.
Click the Add New Folder button to specify a folder as the search path of media server.
Then click the “Browse” button to select the folder to share and click “Apply”.
The folder will appear in the table where you can Edit or Delete it.
You can also choose Autoscan and set the interval for automatic scanning here in this drop-down
list.
If you do it, the media server will search shared folders automatically.
When you create a shared folder, you can visit this page to see its name, file system type,
path, and delete it if necessary by clicking on the corresponding button.
The maximal number of shared folders is 6.
If you want to share a folder, and you already have 6 folders on the list, you can delete
one of them and create another one.
Connecting a printer to the router You can see there are settings for the Print
Server and it means that you can also connect a printer accessible by all devices within
your network.
Let’s have a closer look at how to connect a printer to a router with a USB cable.
This method has certain advantages over using a shared printer.
The printer will be connected directly to the router, and there is no need to have a
computer running all the time in order to be able to print something.
To begin with, turn off the printer and the router.
Plug one end of the USB cable into the printer, and the other - into the router.
Turn the router on, and after some time, turn the printer on as well.
Go to the web interface of your router, open the tab “USB Settings” / “Print Server”
to check if the connected printer is displayed here.
The Server Status should be “Online”- and if it’s “Offline,” click “Start.”
In the first part of this video, I have already shown you how to get into the router’s web
interface.
If the router settings have been modified and you can’t open the web interface, contact
the IT specialist who configured it for network details.
If you can’t find such person, you can reset the router, call your Internet service provider
for tech support and configure the network and Internet settings again.
Yes, it’s a long way to go, but at least you will know all details and be prepared
for any emergency situation in the future.
There might be one more issue.
The router may be unable to recognize your printer properly.
In this case, consult the user manual for the router.
Your printer model might not be supported.
However, you still have some options to try.
Most likely, updating the router’s firmware could help you.
You can watch one of our videos to see how to do it properly.
Find the link in the description.
The newer version of the firmware may have support for your specific device.
Configuring a printer from PC If the printer is displayed correctly in the
web interface of your router, move on to configuring printer options on your computer.
I will show it with the example of Windows 10.
Open Settings / Devices / Devices and Printers.
Click “Add a printer” and choose “The printer that I want isn’t listed.”
Tick “Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or host name” and click “Next.”
From the drop-down list, select “TCP/IP device” and set the IP address of your router
- this is the same address you have used to open its web-interface.
Click “Next” again.
The computer will start detecting the port, so you’ll have to wait a bit.
Select device type as “Custom” and move on to “Settings.”
Set LPR protocol, give any queue name and click OK to confirm your choice.
Next.
At this stage, select the device driver.
You can choose the manufacturer and the model from the list.
Alternatively, you can click on “Windows Update,” wait for the list of available
devices to appear, and choose it from there.
You can also download the driver from the manufacturer’s official website.
Then click “Have disk...” and give the path to the folder where you have extracted
the driver.
If you have already installed this device before, you’ll be asked what driver version
you’d like to use.
Choose “Replace the current driver” and click “Next.”
If necessary, rename it.
In the Printer Sharing page, choose “Do not share this printer.”
The printer setup is complete.
When you see the message that you have successfully added the printer, print a test page.
You will have to repeat these steps on every computer and laptop of your home network to
make printing possible from any of them.
If this method doesn’t work and you can’t connect the printer, or there are errors while
printing the test page, try downloading a special utility, USB Printer Controller.
Go to the official website of your router and choose Support / Download Center.
Specify your router model and choose its hardware version.
Choose “Utility” below and download it, then install and run it.
In the program’s window you will see your router and the printer.
Right-click on the printer and choose “Set Auto-Connect Printer,” tick the box and
click “Apply.”
Now you can open any document and try printing it.
The configuration process is over.
That is all for now.
I hope you find this video useful.
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Leave comments to ask questions.
Thank you for watching.
Good luck.