I have a USB hdd which I would like to connect to my router and my raspberry pi 2. Is this possible with any of the USB hubs?
Hello,
Thank you for posting your question.
We have several USB 2.0 hubs that work well with the Raspberry Pi 2:
USB2-hub7bc
USB2-hub4bc
USB2-hub-ag7
The way to do this would be to connect the USB HDD to the Pi through the hub, then connect the PI to the router through its Ethernet port. Then you can share the HDD on the network in the PI software. You can also use the hub to power the Pi.
I hope this helps.
David
Plugable Support
Hi David,
I have a router (Netgear R7000) with USB3.0 port and a Segate HDD with USB 3.0. If I plug in the HDD into the HUB and connect the hub to both Router and PI will both of them be able to access the HDD?
Snehal
Hi Snehal,
I’m sorry for the delay in answering. I was out of town since Thursday.
A hub can only connect to one host device. So you could connect the USB HDD and several other peripheral devices to the hub at once, then connect it either to the Pi or to the router, but not both at the same time. Both the router and the Pi would be working as host devices.
However, I checked the manual for your router from here: http://www.downloads.netgear.com/file…). The router allows you to connect a USB flash drive or hard drive and access it from computers that are connected to the network. It does not mention the ability to connect a hub.
It seems like you might be able to connect the hub to the router and access it from the Pi using FTP. You could also access it from other computers on the network.
You also could connect the HDD to a powered hub, then connect the hub to the Pi, then with the right configuration, the Pi could connect other computers on the network to the HDD.
Since the router already has this feature built in, it seems to me that your best bet would be to not get the hub, and just connect the HDD to the router and access it there.
I hope this helps. If you could tell me more clearly what you are hoping to do with the HDD, the Pi and the router, I could probably give you more specific instructions.
Thank you,
David
Plugable Support
Hi David,
Thanks for taking time and replying. I would like to connect my USB HDD to the router via USB 3.0 port as the transfer speed would be much faster for USB3.0 at the same time, I would like to connect my HDD to pi (HTPC) directly via USB (good speed) rather than on the network.
I am not sure if any device is available that can connect to 2 host simultaneously ?
Regards,
Snehal
Hi Snehal,
The only way you would be able to connect the HDD to both the router and the Pi at the same time would be to use a USB switch. But this is dangerous because switching during a write attempt to the disk will corrupt it, and since there is no easy way to know when a computer on the network is writing to the router, this would be very easy to happen. Basically, there is no way to connect an HDD through USB to to hosts at the same time.
Here is a USB 3.0 switch if you would be willing to risk trying it:
http://www.plugable.com/products/usb3…
I hope this helps.
David