How to Access a USB Drive on a Router on a Mac

By Jedadiah Casey

Some routers feature USB ports which can convert a Direct Attached Storage (DAS) USB device into a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device. Routers that support this feature are generally designed with Windows-based networking in mind. Fortunately, Apple's Mac OS X operating system supports networking with Windows networks. You can access the USB drive connected to the router by mounting it as a network volume with the Mac OS X Finder application.

Step 1

Click the "Finder" icon in the Dock.

Step 2

Click the "Go" menu at the top of the screen.

Step 3

Click "Connect to Server."

Step 4

Type "smb://IP-of-router" without quotes and replacing "IP-of-router" with the router's IP address. For example, type "smb://192.168.1.1" without quotes.

Step 5

Click "Connect."

Step 6

Enter the user name and password configured for the share on the router. Click "OK."

Step 7

Click the name of the USB share. The default share name is "Default." Click "OK." The USB device connected to the router is now accessible through the Mac's Finder.

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