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Have just got an Apple TV 2 and installed XBMC, all seems to be working ok, have been testing by sharing files from my laptop but dont want to do this all of the time.
How does everyone else share their files, movies, pictures and songs? I Have a hard drive which i used for my previous setup but obviously i cant plug this into the Apple TV 2
Was thinking of getting a network USB hub but would like to find out what everyone else uses ??
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The least expensive way to share media without a computer would be to get a router with a USB port. Often times the router is the same cost or cheaper as an ethernet to USB adapter, and can be used simply to share a USB drive if you want to keep using your current router. I've seen some on sale at various times for as low as $25 USD.
There's also various NAS boxes that can range in price and abilities. A dedicated NAS box will often have a little bit of processing power too, so you can use it to do other things like run a torrent client or a MySQL server for syncing multiple XBMC devices.
Personally, I use a mix of router-with-USB and a low-power miniITX HTPC (that also doubles as my MySQL server and some other things).
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Could be your wireless router already has a USB port, and can share a library via an external USB HD. Some routers have USB for printers, but can take an with updated firmware via The DD-WRT or Tomato projects, to allow them to accept USB drives as well.
Various vendors now sell "NAS adapters" that are just a USB port on one end and a wired NIC on the other. That will let you plug the external HD into your router giving you a UPnP or SMB share on your network. Not a bad option for $50 assuming you already have a USB HD.
The best solution is a dedicated NAS. I have a cheapo one (Dlink DNS-323). It takes 2 HDs (so you always have a backup) and can be hacked fairly easily so you can add extra functionality to it. They cost ~$100-250, plus the cost of hard drive(s)
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liamt456 Wrote:If i got a USB to LAN adapter and connected the hard drive this way, would it work? this would probably be ideal if it did?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/RJ45-Ethernet-10...B000MHO3Q8
That won't work. You need something that will actually act as a file server like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Pogoplug-POGO-B01-...004TDY924/
