The External Storage feature on your Linksys Smart WiFi Router will enable you to share files within your network. Follow the instructions below on enabling this feature.
External Storage is displayed as USB Storage in older firmware versions of Linksys Smart WiFi Routers.
If you are using a previously configured hard drive, you will receive the following message. Click Continue in order to use the new USB features. This will not delete any data on the drive.
1. Log in to the router's web interface.
2. Click on External Storage.
3. Click on the Folder Access tab.
4. Set the Secure Folder Access to ON.
What does the Secure Folder Access feature do?
Leaving this feature OFF will allow unsecured access to your shared folder. Once you turn it ON, it will automatically activate the prompt to ask for login details.
Adding an authorized user
By adding authorized users, you can specify which users in your network can access certain folders in the External Storage. You can limit access to some folders in your shared drive as well. Default authorized users like the admin users can access all folders while guest users can only access media folders.
1. Add a username and enter your desired password.
2. Set Permissions then click Add user.
The Edit option will appear if the shares are already configured for the specific user.
3. Click Apply.
Configuring shares
Creating specific shares will enable you to take control and manage which folders are accessible to certain users that access your External Storage. Learn more.
Selecting an existing share
Once your shares are already set up, you can now configure each authorized user to access them.
In this example, the authorized user that is being configured is Kids.
1. Click Shares.
2. Click Add share.
3. Select the specific folder that you want to share then click OK.
This procedure will allow the user to access specific folders on your External Storage.
4. Click Apply then click Ok.
What’s next?
Once you have configured your Folder Access settings, you can now configure your computers to access your External Storage within your local network. To learn how to do this, read the following article:
