Linksys has announced a new wireless router that also includes what they are calling a 'storage link' which lets you add as much storage on to your network as
you want by simply plugging a USB hard drive or flash drive into the router. This is a really exciting enhancement because it could provide a really inexpensive way to add network attached storage to your home network (without having to buy a specialized network attached storage device). Pricing of this new router, the Linksys WRTSL54GS Wireless-G Media Storage Link Router with Speed Booster, has not yet been announced.
Linksys describes the router as four devices in one:
- First, there's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect Wireless-G, Wireless-B, and other performance-enhanced SpeedBooster devices to the network.
- There's also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together.
- There's the Storage Link feature that lets you easily add gigabytes of storage space onto your network using readily available USB 2.0 hard drives -- or plug in a USB flash disk, for a convenient way of accessing your portable data files.
- There's a built-in Media Server, which streams music, video, and photos from the attached storage device to any UPnP compatible media adapter.
You can also set the router up so that your storage is accessible from the Internet -- files can be easily downloaded via your web browser. Your files can be available publicly, or you can create password-protected accounts for authorized users.
This ability to access files remotely from anywhere is something that advanced users have done for a long time with services such as Go To My PC. But this has not yet caught on with the mass-market. Network Magic home networking software also offers this ability to access any files on your home network remotely using just an Internet browser. See Network Magic's remote access feature called Net2Go here.
