Gary ! To be honest, I thought of this very idea 3 years ago. Also, I wanted to add a SSD with DRAM chache. This arised in my mind so that professor can share acedmic notes, project work & personalised documents/files over a temporary FTP over WiFi within realtime & can carry anywhere. As I was a student at that time & have the less resources, I went to my head professor to support & permit me to use lab & equipments there. They refused & said "This isn't your entertainment platform. We made lab for better cause & better purpose. I don't want to be responsible for any loss here." [BTW, I'm a Mechanical Engineer now, but I know how to code & program at a moderate level.]
Here is another reason for using it as a wireless router in a hotel. For example, when in Las Vegas, some hotels charge you per connection. So if you have say 3 devices, you are paying 3 times as much. Instead you connect this and you are only paying for a single connection. Def can save you money when you have a family and/or friends sharing a room and wanting to be on the web.
Great review. It's nice to have someone who understands the technology do a review. It seems like these devices sound great. I buy them and end up carrying the around and never using it.
I cannot find anywhere that will verify whether or not this wil work with an older version of Ipad Mini. I have the Ipad Mini 2 CB-30 (2014) version - will it work with this please?
You can organize the media into folders and access those folders via the FileHub app as well. But the app also has a special section for Video, Music and Photos. They are virtual folders containing all the relevant files. Those virtual folders have can't be organized according to the metadata.
I was just in a hotel with wired and wireless. The wired was much faster. I ended up using my laptop to create a hotspot with VPN enabled. Without a laptop available something like the Filehub could be useful.
To be honest I didn't test the 5GHz speed much as I assumed the bottle neck would be the CPU or the IO speed. But I just did a quick test and it seems to be about 2x to 2.5x faster!
Ok so while this hub sounds like a great idea you still need to charge this hub and you can only do that via Micro usb cable. In this day and age this should be using usb-c for charging. I've got a ravpower battery pack I bought over a year ago and that charges either by micro usb or usb-c.
I understand that and I am sure I have said the same thing about some smartphones. But ultimately what difference does it make? It comes with a cable in the box. In my household we are still about 50/50 micro USB / USB-C for phones etc.
Well, technically yes, but in reality no. 10W micro USB chargers are common. And I think Qualcomm Quick Charge was using micro USB up until 3.0. There is nothing to mandate the minimum charing rate/watts in USB-C itself. It can still supply 0.5A at 5V to a device, if that is what the device wants. But you do get the advantages of USB-C Power Delivery, but again that is technically something different and needs to be supported by the device.
@@GaryExplains thanks for answering. It is not an issue particularly but if the usb-c connector costs just a few pennies more why would they not implement that? I'd just like to see newer technology and not the "old" one, but it will get the job done surely. Maybe there are usb-c options out there, I'll have to search the web for a bit once I got the time.
Good review but you missed a couple of the most useful features. 1) If you have multiple wireless devices you want to network together in the absence of an accessible wifi, say in a car or at the airport, this will network them together. The best use of the on-board battery is to create a wireless connection between multiple portable devices with no external power required. 2) Since this provides a router function with NAT, you can use it to connect multiple devices to a single paid wired or wireless internet connection, say in a hotel room, and only pay once since the hotel network only sees the router as an IP address. Also, wired internet in a hotel room is generally faster during peak hours but you can use this to create your private wireless network.
Interesting points, thanks. I have never found the need for point 1. Could you give me a use case for that. And as for 2, as I said in the video, that has never been an issue anywhere I have been.
The key is that multiple wifi enable devices can all connect to the travel router and then the travel router can be connected to another network through wifi or wired internet and provide NAT to all other devices. The travel router serves a web page to tell it which wifi to connect to. Similar to the setup page on a home router. use case for 1. I am a software developer who works remotely. Sometime several of us get together in a remote place but still need to share files. Everyone just connects to the travel router through wifi and we have instant networking (without internet). Use case for 2. My wife, myself and my 2 daughters check into a hotel. Between us we have 5 android devices and a laptop. The hotel changers $10/day per device ($60 per day if all devices connect). With a travel router, the hotel only sees one device, the travel router. and all devices can be pre-connected to the travel router before leaving home so where ever we go, only one device needs to connect to the local wifi through the travel router. My original reason for purchase was to be able to use a chromecast in a hotel room. The Chromecast has no way to go to the sign on screen to join the wifi network (or did not at the time). I connect my phone and and the chromecast to the travel router, the travel router to the hotel wifi and the hotel sees both as a single IP because of the NAT on the router. The phone accesses the hotel login screen and now the chromecast sees the internet.
Missed a good use case, Portable Wifi extender. Does the hotel not quite reach the table by the pool? Put a travel router (like this one) half way between your great table and the hotel wfi. Connect your device to the router and the router to the hotel wifi
Sorry to be such a pest. All of this is done without special software on the phone/tablet/pc. Just use the device to connect to the wifi network created by the device like you would any other network and navigate 10.10.10.254 in a browser
I find it kinda weird how even after all these years, these companies are still half assing this type of product for some reason... Years ago I got myself one of those Kingston Mobilelite things. Kinda crap app, weak slow charging battery, but it kinda worked, pretty much like this one. RavPower and Hootoo also had their own solutions. Kinda weird how little they have changed. I mean, they could just put fast charging, a nice Thunderbolt or at least faster 3.1 type-c connection, VPN/TOR capability, internal M.2 port, or at least SATA or eSATA for fast and big internal storage, among some other stuff. Travel NAS/server/privacy shield or something. I know it'd be more expensive, but at least it'd have some sort of differential and purpose. Photographers and videographers on the go have been looking for something like this for years now, and the only products around are these half assed products, or some incredibly expensive pro grade stuff that are not even all that much good tbh. I kinda gave up on an end user solution and if I ever need somthing like this, I'd go DIY route with a devboard and open source portable router instead.
as others have said including yourself with android you have OTG but it did send me down an amazon storage rabbit hole and i did stumble across a SanDisk Ultra 64 GB Dual Type-C USB 3.0 Flash Drive for a tenner. so thank you lol.
You can buy a RavPower FileHub from Amazon: geni.us/JiFC3 😉👍
Gary ! To be honest, I thought of this very idea 3 years ago. Also, I wanted to add a SSD with DRAM chache. This arised in my mind so that professor can share acedmic notes, project work & personalised documents/files over a temporary FTP over WiFi within realtime & can carry anywhere.
As I was a student at that time & have the less resources, I went to my head professor to support & permit me to use lab & equipments there. They refused & said "This isn't your entertainment platform. We made lab for better cause & better purpose. I don't want to be responsible for any loss here."
[BTW, I'm a Mechanical Engineer now, but I know how to code & program at a moderate level.]
Here is another reason for using it as a wireless router in a hotel.
For example, when in Las Vegas, some hotels charge you per connection. So if you have say 3 devices, you are paying 3 times as much. Instead you connect this and you are only paying for a single connection.
Def can save you money when you have a family and/or friends sharing a room and wanting to be on the web.
Great review. It's nice to have someone who understands the technology do a review. It seems like these devices sound great. I buy them and end up carrying the around and never using it.
You can used it in hotels if the wireless is crowded, so at least you have your own router even if the connection is still shared
Why no affiliate link in the description?
LOL. That is the first time someone has asked me for an affiliate link.
I double up on the request
You are putting alot of effort into these videos you deserve some reimbursement
@@GaryExplains just want to support your work.
You can buy a RavPower FileHub from Amazon: geni.us/JiFC3 😉👍
Very cool! Thanks Gary! Please share more such utilitarian gadgets if time permits!
I've been to several hotels where the WiFi was really poor, but a wired connection was available and better. So I can see that AP use case.
I will certainly take the FileHub with me now when I travel and see if i find myself in that situation.
I cannot find anywhere that will verify whether or not this wil work with an older version of Ipad Mini. I have the Ipad Mini 2 CB-30 (2014) version - will it work with this please?
I just us the OTG feature on my phone.
So a USB OTG dongle allows me to connect any USB flash drive
Yeah, iPhone users love that feature! 😜
@@GaryExplains Cheeky!!
can you USB tether your phones mobile data to turn it into a hotspot?
Hi Gary, thanks for the awesome and informative videos, have you considered looking into GL Inet Slate travel router?
if u use SMB file sharing via an app like FX file manager and organize ur media into folders it might solve the media organization issue
You can organize the media into folders and access those folders via the FileHub app as well. But the app also has a special section for Video, Music and Photos. They are virtual folders containing all the relevant files. Those virtual folders have can't be organized according to the metadata.
ah well iirc FX file manager can read tags from music files
I bought something similar to it in 2016 for 30$ called JioFi Router, it had no ethernet port but it had other features.
I was just in a hotel with wired and wireless. The wired was much faster. I ended up using my laptop to create a hotspot with VPN enabled. Without a laptop available something like the Filehub could be useful.
Very informative review, tnx! Do you plan on reviewing any of GL.iNet products? AR300M or GL-MT300N would be nice. :P
It seems like a nice piece of hardware for a PirateBox.
What filesystems does it support? Can I use EXT4 and ZFS or does it have to be FAT/NTFS?
I think it is just FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS.
@@GaryExplains Aw :( slightly disappointing but still a pretty nifty little device :)
You can get better speeds on shareit for pc plus it has remort view.
Not quite the same thing is it.
As an owner of an older ravpower filehub, I notice this has 5g. What are the speeds like over 5g compared to 2.4g please?
To be honest I didn't test the 5GHz speed much as I assumed the bottle neck would be the CPU or the IO speed. But I just did a quick test and it seems to be about 2x to 2.5x faster!
@@GaryExplains Thank you very much Gary! Thank you for the excellent review of the product overall as well 👍
Ok so while this hub sounds like a great idea you still need to charge this hub and you can only do that via Micro usb cable. In this day and age this should be using usb-c for charging. I've got a ravpower battery pack I bought over a year ago and that charges either by micro usb or usb-c.
I understand that and I am sure I have said the same thing about some smartphones. But ultimately what difference does it make? It comes with a cable in the box. In my household we are still about 50/50 micro USB / USB-C for phones etc.
Gary Explains the difference I see is in the charging times. A micro usb will take longer than the usb-c
Well, technically yes, but in reality no. 10W micro USB chargers are common. And I think Qualcomm Quick Charge was using micro USB up until 3.0. There is nothing to mandate the minimum charing rate/watts in USB-C itself. It can still supply 0.5A at 5V to a device, if that is what the device wants. But you do get the advantages of USB-C Power Delivery, but again that is technically something different and needs to be supported by the device.
Great video.
why does it have micro usb though? :(
Why is that an issue?
@@GaryExplains thanks for answering. It is not an issue particularly but if the usb-c connector costs just a few pennies more why would they not implement that? I'd just like to see newer technology and not the "old" one, but it will get the job done surely. Maybe there are usb-c options out there, I'll have to search the web for a bit once I got the time.
Good review but you missed a couple of the most useful features. 1) If you have multiple wireless devices you want to network together in the absence of an accessible wifi, say in a car or at the airport, this will network them together. The best use of the on-board battery is to create a wireless connection between multiple portable devices with no external power required. 2) Since this provides a router function with NAT, you can use it to connect multiple devices to a single paid wired or wireless internet connection, say in a hotel room, and only pay once since the hotel network only sees the router as an IP address. Also, wired internet in a hotel room is generally faster during peak hours but you can use this to create your private wireless network.
Interesting points, thanks. I have never found the need for point 1. Could you give me a use case for that. And as for 2, as I said in the video, that has never been an issue anywhere I have been.
The key is that multiple wifi enable devices can all connect to the travel router and then the travel router can be connected to another network through wifi or wired internet and provide NAT to all other devices. The travel router serves a web page to tell it which wifi to connect to. Similar to the setup page on a home router.
use case for 1. I am a software developer who works remotely. Sometime several of us get together in a remote place but still need to share files. Everyone just connects to the travel router through wifi and we have instant networking (without internet).
Use case for 2. My wife, myself and my 2 daughters check into a hotel. Between us we have 5 android devices and a laptop. The hotel changers $10/day per device ($60 per day if all devices connect). With a travel router, the hotel only sees one device, the travel router. and all devices can be pre-connected to the travel router before leaving home so where ever we go, only one device needs to connect to the local wifi through the travel router.
My original reason for purchase was to be able to use a chromecast in a hotel room. The Chromecast has no way to go to the sign on screen to join the wifi network (or did not at the time). I connect my phone and and the chromecast to the travel router, the travel router to the hotel wifi and the hotel sees both as a single IP because of the NAT on the router. The phone accesses the hotel login screen and now the chromecast sees the internet.
Missed a good use case, Portable Wifi extender. Does the hotel not quite reach the table by the pool? Put a travel router (like this one) half way between your great table and the hotel wfi. Connect your device to the router and the router to the hotel wifi
Sorry to be such a pest. All of this is done without special software on the phone/tablet/pc. Just use the device to connect to the wifi network created by the device like you would any other network and navigate 10.10.10.254 in a browser
@@TheUnwokeFool Chromecast is a good point. Other smart home devices like Google homes could also benefit from this.
I find it kinda weird how even after all these years, these companies are still half assing this type of product for some reason...
Years ago I got myself one of those Kingston Mobilelite things. Kinda crap app, weak slow charging battery, but it kinda worked, pretty much like this one. RavPower and Hootoo also had their own solutions. Kinda weird how little they have changed.
I mean, they could just put fast charging, a nice Thunderbolt or at least faster 3.1 type-c connection, VPN/TOR capability, internal M.2 port, or at least SATA or eSATA for fast and big internal storage, among some other stuff. Travel NAS/server/privacy shield or something. I know it'd be more expensive, but at least it'd have some sort of differential and purpose.
Photographers and videographers on the go have been looking for something like this for years now, and the only products around are these half assed products, or some incredibly expensive pro grade stuff that are not even all that much good tbh.
I kinda gave up on an end user solution and if I ever need somthing like this, I'd go DIY route with a devboard and open source portable router instead.
*GARY!!!*
*Afternoon Professor Sims!*
*Afternoon Fellow Classmates!*
Hi haters ... lol
MARK!!!
Oh hi Mark🙋🏻♂️
😂
as others have said including yourself with android you have OTG but it did send me down an amazon storage rabbit hole and i did stumble across a SanDisk Ultra 64 GB Dual Type-C USB 3.0 Flash Drive for a tenner. so thank you lol.
iPhones still only have 1 amp chargers in the box
Which I think is a criticism of iPhones and not a justification for the FileHub.
Super freaking useful and much easier than probably many expensive hubs+HDD configs
Long live USB OTG
On the iPhone? 😉
@@GaryExplains lol you got me, ofcourse on android 😎! i use the usb-a otg adapter Samsung included with my note8 quite often.
IOS users are in trouble
Nice review of an almost unnecessary item.....
iOS 13 has USB drive support 😂 so even for iOS it's not that usefull
I think he is not talking about USB drives but rather the ability to view folders directly on a laptop instead of using iTunes.
Great video.