Wi-Fi Router with A USB Port. How and Which One to Choose?

I decided to raise an interesting and relevant topic, and tell you in detail about choosing a wi-fi router with a USB port. USB routers have quietly appeared. I tried to find what the first model was, from what manufacturer, and found nothing. And I can’t remember when these seemingly unnecessary USB-connectors on routers started to appear.

Now I looked, more than half of the routers that are on sale at the moment, have at least 1 USB port. On more expensive models, it is usually USB 3.0. There are models with two connectors, I have such a router. It’s just that I now have internet via 3G modem. So to one connector is connected to the modem itself, and to the second I connect the drive. A flash drive, or an external hard disk.

As practice shows, mostly USB on the router is used to connect the drives. Plug in a flash drive, or an external hard disk, and you have network storage. File sharing, FTP, or media server. You can set up backup, or download files directly to the connected drive. The set of functions of course differs from a particular model of router, but approximately all the same. You can also use for other purposes: connecting the same 3G/4G modems (if the router supports), printers, web-cameras (rarely).

There are a lot of possibilities. Manufacturers have already brought all these functions to mind, and everything more or less works stably and can be used. I think that USB-port should be on every router. Of course, in the near future it will be so. Well, if you are now choosing a router, and asked this question, then take a model with USB and do not even think about it. Maybe you don’t need it now, but you don’t buy a router for a couple of months or even a year. Then you will need to connect something, and you will have to change the router.

Possibilities of USB-port on the router

Often I meet questions, something like: “and why do you need a USB port on a wi-fi router”. Above I’ve listed the basic functions, but let’s go into more detail. Plus I’ll give links to some instructions that may come in handy after choosing and buying such a router.

As I’ve already written above, mostly the functions depend on the manufacturer and firmware on which the router works. But if we take devices from the most popular manufacturers (ASUS, TP-Link, D-Link, ZyXEL), USB input is used for the same tasks. Which we will consider below.

For external hard disks and USB-drives

Here everything is simple. We take a flash drive or an external hard disk (aka HDD) and connect it to the router. If necessary, set some settings and you can share the drive with any device connected to the router.

You can configure the following features:

• File sharing on the USB drive. This is normal network access to the drive that is connected to the router. On your computer, the drive will appear under the Network tab. Or you can connect it as a network drive. From Android devices, you can access it for example through the program “ES Explorer”.
• FTP server. You can set up an FTP server on the router and access the drive not only on your local network, but also via the Internet.
• Media server (DLNA server). This is another useful feature. It can come in handy for viewing photos, videos and listening to music stored on the network drive on your TV (mostly on your TV). The TV should also be connected to a router.
• Download Master, or offline file download. This is when the router can download files (torrents) to a hard disk or flash drive connected to it. Without a computer or other devices. On the new models from TP-Link and ASUS this function is exactly. I use it myself, it is very convenient. Especially when the Internet is slow. You can schedule downloading for the night.
• ASUS routers also have AiDisk (file sharing via the Internet), and Time Machine.

Instructions on how to configure some of the features:

• FTP server on TP-LINK
• Offline file upload on new models from TP-Link

A small nuance about connecting external hard disks. It happens that the power supply provided by the router to the USB-port may not be enough for the hard disk to work. I haven’t encountered such a problem myself yet. I want to say right away that it is impossible to know in advance whether the router will “pull” a certain hard disk. If you encounter such a problem, it is better to exchange the router for another model. There are different USB-hubs and disks with additional power supply, you can look, but it seems to me that it’s complete nonsense.

And if you have a USB 3.0 drive and you plan to use it actively, it’s better to buy a router with a USB 3.0 port. This is always indicated in the characteristics. Externally, they can also be distinguished. Input standard 3.0, and the plug itself inside are colored blue. The speed of writing and reading information will be higher.

For 3G/4G modems

If you have internet via 3G/4G modem, and you need to distribute it via Wi-Fi and cable to other devices, you will need a router that has support for USB modems.

I have written many articles on this topic. Therefore, just give links:

• wi-fi router for usb 3G/4G modem – lots of information on selection and compatibility. You will definitely find this article useful!
• ASUS routers with USB 3G/4G modem support
• How to connect 3G/4G USB modem to TP-LINK wi-fi router.

The main thing, seriously approach the choice of router for these tasks. I also advise you to look on the Internet before buying information on the request “router model + modem model”. I at one time and did so.

For the printer (print server)

A printer is connected to the router (via USB) and a print server is configured. Once configured, all devices on the LAN can use the printer, or MFP. The process of setting up the print server will vary depending on the router itself.

I can honestly say that I don’t have much experience in setting up this scheme. So, look at the instructions on the manufacturers’ websites. There everything is there.

Router with USB input. What to pay attention to when choosing? What model to buy?

There is nothing special in the choice. Look at the number of ports and version. There are routers with one, or two ports. I haven’t seen more. Also pay attention to the version of the USB port. There’s USB 2.0, and USB 3.0. The speed will be higher on the latter. The characteristics of the router always indicate what standard port. If there are 2 of them, then most likely one will be 2.0 and the other 3.0.

I am against advising any specific models. You have all the information you need. Therefore, it will not be difficult for you to choose a router. Especially since the availability of USB is only one of the points on which you can be guided. You need to look at other characteristics of the router, price, etc. Most likely, you will still need an article with tips on choosing a router for your home or apartment.

Below I will show a few models of routers that have this very USB input.

Xiaomi Mini Wi-Fi and Xiaomi Wi-Fi MiRouter 3

These are probably the cheapest routers with a USB port on the market.

The port is there, but as for the software part, settings and how everything is organized there, everything is sad. It’s a bit difficult to figure out. Access via an app from a mobile device, the app is in Chinese, etc. I looked, read, and even lost the desire to configure file sharing. Therefore, as a router just for file sharing, I would not recommend this router. But there is a way in.

Yes, there are alternative firmware, etc. If you’re a fan of poking around in the settings, you can buy it. And if you want no problems, quickly set up and forget, then this is not the best option.

TP-Link TL-WR842N

Inexpensive router with USB input from TP-Link. It seems to support 3G/4G modems. Well, and support for all the features I wrote about above.

You can look at the review of this model. There I wrote more about modem support.

TP-Link Archer C20i

A more serious model with 5G Wi-Fi support and 1 USB 2.0. No modem support.

If you are interested in the model, you can read its review: /reviews-and-information-about-routers/tp-link-archer-c20i-reviews-review-characteristics/.

Asus RT-N18U

I have this router right now. Two ports. One of them is USB 3.0 version. As for working with 3G modems, drives, everything is very cool. But it has no support for the new wi-fi standard IEEE 802.11ac. And this is a minus.

If you do not need support for Wi-Fi 5GHz, and you are satisfied with the price, you can buy.

A few more inexpensive models: D-Link DIR-620A, D-Link DIR-632, Zyxel Keenetic 4G III, Zyxel Keenetic Omni II, TP-LINK Archer C20, Asus RT-N14U.

The choice is very large. I still advise you to choose in favor of routers from popular manufacturers. I can say for sure that all the declared functions will work there. And in most cases they will work stably. And there are instructions on how to configure. You will be able to configure everything without problems.

And how do you use or plan to use the USB-connector on your router? Write in the comments! You can also ask questions there.

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Ramón

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