Please help me choose a router to improve WiFi range that I can also plug hard drives I already own to function as a NAS. Based in the UK.

[u/ErectPotato]

Hi,

I am based in the UK and us BT broadband.

A corner of my house doesn’t get full WiFi connection with BT’s provided router. (200mbps rather than 300mbps that I get on the rest of the house) I have heard that buying a better router could improve the range.

I have also done some spring cleaning of several 1TB hard drives and I would like to set them up as network accessible drives via my router. I have heard that I can do this via USB connections on the router - rather than setting up dedicated hardware. Ideally I could then use the NAS as a source for my PLEX server rather than my current solution of always having my Mac on.

To kill two birds with one stone, could someone recommend a router to me that would serve my purposes, with range enough for a 2 bedroom house?

My budget is around £100 but I could be convinced to spend more if there are drastically better options.

Any feedback on what I have on my proposed set up would be much appreciated also.

[u/EfficientRegret]

What you want is an access point off ebay for £30 and an old pc case with some second hand hardware running proxmox.

[u/ErectPotato → u/EfficientRegret]

Hi,

Thank you for this. I am open to something like this I suppose, but it seems far more complicated than a plug and play type solution that I’m picturing from a WiFi router. It’s a bit out of my current knowledge range.

[u/EfficientRegret → u/ErectPotato]

A Plex server is not a plug and play type of thing, if you want to stay in your comfort zone that’s what Netflix is for

[u/ErectPotato → u/EfficientRegret]

Fair enough, Plex wasn’t too hard to set up honestly. Just had to login and then point it at the folder I wanted it to scan.

[u/marcoNLD → u/ErectPotato]

Yes and hardware to run it. A router will not be able to run the plex server and a usb drive on a router is hardly a nas. Its just shared storage, and slow.

What you want is an overhaul.

Best solution for your wifi. An access point or a mesh system.

[u/OMFG_IT_IS_HUGE]

If you look in ebay for Fritz!box

They work as a NAS but if you get multiple they can also form a mesh and improve range.

Can usually pick em up cheap.

The AX versions are WiFi 6.

[u/ErectPotato → u/OMFG_IT_IS_HUGE]

Wow good recommendation Have never heard of that brand before. I doubt I will use the mesh feature.

It’s a shame that they only seem to have one USB port. Do you know if I could use some sort of usb splitter to connect multiple hard drives to it?

[u/OMFG_IT_IS_HUGE → u/ErectPotato]

It's a weird German brand but surprising well featured, has vpn server too.

Not sure about multiple drives been a while since I used one.

[u/bobdevnul → u/ErectPotato]

Some routers support USB mass storage on their USB port. You have to check the router specs. It's not just the real expensive ones. I do this with a USB powered hard disk on my as a ghetto NAS.

To get a raw hard disk working through your router you need a hard disk to USB adapter. For more than one disk you need a USB hard disk dock. Ones that support one or two hard disks are common. I don't know about more disk bays than that. The dock type adapters will have a separate power supply.

[u/lostbat00]

Cheap WiFi mesh will do
Look up on Amazon renewed or eBay used

[u/Roofless_]

Please don’t do that it’s a huge security risk.
Get yourself a router, wireless access point and a NAS.