--- title: I turned a spare USB drive and Wi‑Fi router into shared... description: A practical guide to turning a router's USB port into basic shared network storage without a dedicated NAS. Covers plugging in a USB drive, enabling Samba/file... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-spare-usb-drive-and-wi-fi-router-into-shared-storage-no-nas-required-2fgjrmlil twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I turned a spare USB drive and Wi‑Fi router into shared storage, no NAS required | daily.dev og:description: A practical guide to turning a router's USB port into basic shared network storage without a dedicated NAS. Covers plugging in a USB drive, enabling Samba/file... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-spare-usb-drive-and-wi-fi-router-into-shared-storage-no-nas-required-2fgjrmlil og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/2FGjrMLil.png og:image:alt: I turned a spare USB drive and Wi‑Fi router into shared storage, no NAS required og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I turned a spare USB drive and Wi‑Fi router into shared storage, no NAS required **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A practical guide to turning a router's USB port into basic shared network storage without a dedicated NAS. Covers plugging in a USB drive, enabling Samba/file sharing in router settings (demonstrated on TP-Link), and accessing the share from both Windows (via File Explorer with UNC path) and macOS (via Finder using SMB). Also touches on FTP options for remote access and security considerations around Internet FTP. Acknowledged as a lightweight 'poor man's NAS' suitable for simple household file sharing. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Most people ignore their router's USB port, but it's perfect for one surprisingly useful thing](https://daily.dev/posts/most-people-ignore-their-router-s-usb-port-but-it-s-perfect-for-one-surprisingly-useful-thing-auy3a9kgs) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I thought my travel router would collect dust, but I use it for these 3 things at home](https://daily.dev/posts/i-thought-my-travel-router-would-collect-dust-but-i-use-it-for-these-3-things-at-home-oze2idony) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 1 comments - [Your router's USB port isn't a NAS replacement, but it can still be useful in some ways](https://daily.dev/posts/your-router-s-usb-port-isn-t-a-nas-replacement-but-it-can-still-be-useful-in-some-ways-qsbad10xr) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I used this free tool to share files between two Windows PCs without internet or a USB drive](https://daily.dev/posts/i-used-this-free-tool-to-share-files-between-two-windows-pcs-without-internet-or-a-usb-drive-if9xmta7o) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I turned my Raspberry Pi into a portable NAS that runs off a power bank, and now I carry terabytes everywhere](https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-my-raspberry-pi-into-a-portable-nas-that-runs-off-a-power-bank-and-now-i-carry-terabytes-e-yb8kmauvk) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-spare-usb-drive-and-wi-fi-router-into-shared-storage-no-nas-required-2fgjrmlil) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I turned a spare USB drive and Wi‑Fi router into shared storage, no NAS required","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-spare-usb-drive-and-wi-fi-router-into-shared-storage-no-nas-required-2fgjrmlil","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-turned-a-spare-usb-drive-and-wi-fi-router-into-shared-storage-no-nas-required-2fgjrmlil"},"datePublished":"2026-06-08T12:00:53.433Z","dateModified":"2026-06-08T12:01:16.109Z","description":"A practical guide to turning a router's USB port into basic shared network storage without a dedicated NAS. 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