My Experience with eTRAYz (NAS)

[ashishkesarwani]

The 610n is a top dollar router - full dual band with simultaneous transmission, and fabulous range. I know someone has hooked it up to a regular NAS and flashed it with DD-WRT, and runs torrent downloads on the router itself (DD-WRT is stable and open source).

I've had fantastic luck with Linksys products - no dropped signals and signal over 40m away on a G router. I think you made a great choice.

Price should be around the 9K mark, anything more and you got cheated.

Thanks for your inputs and I shall see that I am able to install it properly into my setup and if anything goes wrong then I will need your advice once again. But I hope not.
About the price I bought it for 9800, but nothing could be done now, also since I bought it from ebay which also charges a certain fee for listing and I made the payment through my credit card so in this case the seller is only going to get around 9k after all the deduction from the credit card payment gateway as well as the ebay fee.

 

[venkatcr]

I bought it from ebay which also charges a certain fee for listing and I made the payment through my credit card so in this case the seller is only going to get around 9k after all the deduction from the credit card payment gateway as well as the ebay fee.

Ashish, items such as a wireless router area available dime a dozen from local computer shops. So i wonder what made you go to eBay for that?

Cranky, I was using a Belkin N1 Vision (Belkin : N1 Vision) for some time, before my son stole it from here. I have a huge affinity for Belkin products as their set up is really simple, and their product service/replacement exemplary. Simply no questions asked.

Though I am now using one, my Netgear router took me a week to set up and I finally had to call an external expert to help me. Touch wood, it has been working for 6 months without a hitch.

Cheers

 

[ashishkesarwani]

Actually after making the purchase I called up the seller whose contact information was shown after the full transaction and went to his office at the Nehru Place, and took the delivery of the router from him personally rather than him sending it by courier this saved me some money. Also due to the fact that my office is in Lajpat Nagar which is near to Nehru Place. I went with the ebay route as I wanted to buy it of my credit card and generally these shop owners in Nehru place don't accept credit card. I came across this problem earlier too when I went shopping for an internal HDD for etrayz from Nehru Place and then Sumit called me up from Meerut and asked me to buy a Belkin Power strip from their distributer at Nehru Place, since I wasn't prepare for this emergency purchase so I didn't had enough cash left after purchasing my HDD. I went to the distributer for the Belkin and he specifically asked me for cash, so I asked him if he could swipe my Credit Card but he refused and said that he didn't had a Card machine. After this incidence I felt really bad since Sumit had asked me for something and I could not buy it.

 

[venkatcr]

The N1 vision is also a great router - you should have just got another one if you were so comfortable with it

Too expensive for me to just surf the Net. It is about 10,500. For now, I have somehow got that Netgear running, and it is consistent at 54mbps across the house. More than enough for me now. I dread the day that thing will stop or BSNL will come with something stupid such as new IP Addresses - then it will back to the one week drawing board.

By middle of next year, I will have my HTPC and a high speed wireless running to play music across the house. At that time, I will certainly install a N1.

Cheers

 

[ashishkesarwani]

Guys only after spending 8 hours on a chair, fiddling with my new router as well as my laptop, I was able to finally configure my setup. Its working the way I wanted it to work and I am really pleased with the end results. I was also helped by Linksys tele-support team and with their help only I could do it otherwise its not easy for anyone with no theoritical knowledge of networking.

 

[Sumit]

After this incidence I felt really bad since Sumit had asked me for something and I could not buy it.

Chill yaar!! Whats wrong with you?

 

[ashishkesarwani]

I need help in configuring DDNS settings on to the etrayz so that I could use it via WAN. I have already configured DDNS settings on to my router and I have signed up with DynDNS.com but I am unable get my etrayz work on WAN.

 

[Sumit]

Hi!!

I need some advice.

A few days back my wireless 'G' router gave up on me. Since then I am contemplating on buying a new one.

Now, before I move ahead in buying one> I was thinking of setting up a server based storage of all my data and being able to stream it wirelessly and wired to different parts of the house. Also I wish to use torrent clients on the same.

Now, I am not looking at PC based setup i.e. I don't wish the leave the PC 'on' all the time to access the data. Is there a device that I can use to store data and access the same from wired and wireless network with the help of router.

Basic specs of my PC:
OS: W7 Ultimate Licensed
MBD: ASUS, with wireless 'N' capable network port
Processor: AMD Phenom II X2, 3.0 Ghz
RAM: 4Gb 667Mhz
HDD: 500Gb internal and 500GB+20Gb+80GB external

I don't have much experience in this field and I shall look forward to all the help I can get from forum members.

Cheers!!

 

[santhosh]

Hi!!

I need some advice.

A few days back my wireless 'G' router gave up on me. Since then I am contemplating on buying a new one.

Now, before I move ahead in buying one> I was thinking of setting up a server based storage of all my data and being able to stream it wirelessly and wired to different parts of the house. Also I wish to use torrent clients on the same.

Now, I am not looking at PC based setup i.e. I don't wish the leave the PC 'on' all the time to access the data. Is there a device that I can use to store data and access the same from wired and wireless network with the help of router.

Currently I have an oppo BD-83 which is network capable and Wd Tv.
Basic specs of my PC:
OS: W7 Ultimate Licensed
MBD: ASUS, with wireless 'N' capable network port
Processor: AMD Phenom II X2, 3.0 Ghz
RAM: 4Gb 667Mhz
HDD: 500Gb internal and 500GB+20Gb+80GB external

I don't have much experience in this field and I shall look forward to all the help I can get from forum members.

Cheers!!

Sumit, you need a NAS (Network attached Storage) like eTrayz to be able to do all that you have listed and more. You can also look at other NAS products like Netgear ReadyNas or Acer .

Since you have to buy a router anyway, do consider the option of buying a N router which is also usb capable. With this, you will be able to attach any USB drive or hard disk and access it from anywhere in your home/office network. Since most HD movies are easily more than 4GB, you should be cautious if the router supports NTFS format. If not, you will not be able to download or store any data(single file) that is more than 4GB.

 

[Sumit]

@Santhosh> Does the netgear ReadyNAS have a built in router?? Or do I have to attach a router to the same?

 

[santhosh]

@Santhosh> Does the netgear ReadyNAS have a built in router?? Or do I have to attach a router to the same?

It is a full fledged NAS only. It does not have a router.

Buffalo has a N router, but again it can't do NTFS. Here is the link:
Buffalo Technology - Nfiniti Wireless-N routers & compact USB adapters

Give me some time, I will search for you. Basically, something like this is what you need. Should cost you within 4 to 5k for a similar N Router. Vinayaga, the author of that thread is also a member here. I have invited him to post here. Let us also wait for him for first hand experience.

 

[santhosh]

Give me some time, I will search for you. Basically, something like this is what you need. Should cost you within 4 to 5k for a similar N Router.

Sumit, did little bit of searching today and found the Linksys WRT160NL. It is available for around 100$ in the US. This is the closest to your requirement that I have found thus far. It is a stylish N router, wi-fi media streamer and also allows you to connect a USB storage device. But, I am yet to find any info that suggests that this router can be used as a torrent downloader without switching on your PC/Laptop.

Linksys by Cisco Wireless-N Broadband Router with Storage Link WRT160NL

I am able to find routers which are able to do everything but they don't support NTFS. So, search is still on for a router which is able to do everything.

Vinayaga, the author of that thread is also a member here. I have invited him to post here. Let us also wait for him for first hand experience.

Will PM him on another forum that we are both members on.

 

[Sumit]

Santhosh!! Thanks for doing this. I have limited knowledge in this field and appreciate all the help that I can get.

I was at Ashish's place on Sunday and had a look at his setup. He has set his etrayz and his xtreamer beautifully. After seeing and understanding his setup, I have come to a conclusion that I shall be using a NAS with wifi router. But, I will try to hardwire as much as possible as clients in my house will be at a sizeable distance.

So Santhosh, now I need a wifi router with USB capability and NAS server with torrent client. Etrayz is actually very good. But, I want to look at 4 bay + 2 USB capability NAS. If I can't find a decent one then probably I am going to buy etrayz only. At present I shall be using 3 to 4 clients to this network. So, hardwire would be best. Note: All the clients will not be using the netork at the same time.

Cheers!!

 

[Ketan]

Guys,

I have a eTrayz question and need help configuring.
I had my etrayz delivered in the third week of December itself. I'm trying to set it up now after I got a Seagate 160GB HDD to use with eTrayz from a friend. I was delaying my purchase since my RPTV bulb has gone bad and I'm planning to buy one from US during my next US trip.

eTrayz turned on. power LEDs glowing.
HDDA is off (160GB HDD out there)
HDDB turned red
USB cyclic blinking orange/amber! stating no OS / installing OS
Network LED turned ON
eTrayz got the IP from the D-Link DI-524 - I have a static DHCP client IP configured for it now

Above is the state of eTrayz I have whenever I switch it on.
When I install the software its not able to search the eTrayz device on the network.
Windows firewall does prompt me for unblocking the program outbound connection and I confirm the same. I dont have any restrictions on my router configured as such - no filters
I'm able to ping eTrayz IP address without any issues from the notebook.
However, the setup is not able to search eTrayz on the network.

Am I missing something very basic here? is the USB led supposed to continue blinking? is it normal?
I have gone thru the installation guide a few times and did not find something I may be misssing.

I'm planning to buy a single 2TB for eTrayz to start with and later I shall put one more. Any recommendations for brand/model of HDD? I have heard that its not going to make a big diff is I buy the HDD from Bangalore/SP Rd. or US just a few hundreds may be, in that case I shall buy one from local market to ensure smooth service/support in case required in feature. Your opinions are welcome on this.

And yes, after reading this thread, it seems its also time to upgrade my DI-524

 

[ashishkesarwani]

eTrayz turned on. power LEDs glowing.
HDDA is off (160GB HDD out there)
HDDB turned red
USB cyclic blinking orange/amber! stating no OS / installing OS
Network LED turned ON
eTrayz got the IP from the D-Link DI-524 - I have a static DHCP client IP configured for it now

Above is the state of eTrayz I have whenever I switch it on.
When I install the software its not able to search the eTrayz device on the network.
Windows firewall does prompt me for unblocking the program outbound connection and I confirm the same. I dont have any restrictions on my router configured as such - no filters
I'm able to ping eTrayz IP address without any issues from the notebook.
However, the setup is not able to search eTrayz on the network.

Am I missing something very basic here? is the USB led supposed to continue blinking? is it normal?
I have gone thru the installation guide a few times and did not find something I may be misssing.

I'm planning to buy a single 2TB for eTrayz to start with and later I shall put one more. Any recommendations for brand/model of HDD? I have heard that its not going to make a big diff is I buy the HDD from Bangalore/SP Rd. or US just a few hundreds may be, in that case I shall buy one from local market to ensure smooth service/support in case required in feature. Your opinions are welcome on this.

And yes, after reading this thread, it seems its also time to upgrade my DI-524

If you haven't connected anything onto the USB port of etrayz then this USB led shouldn't blink which means a malfunction, try turning the etrayz off and then back on again and this time when the USB led stops flashing then run the setup once again. About the Hdd its always better to buy locally because of the warranty issues and go for a WD here which has a lesser failure rate than the seagate.

 

[Sumit]

HI!!

I was surfing the net to find a good wireless N router. I can say that this is very confusing. I would need help with this.

I want a router which can:

Stream HD video and audio effortlessly
Capable of streaming to more than one client
Should have USB
Should have an FTP
Should have a facility for torrent client
Support for NTFS

Please suggest one which can do all the above?

Does Belkin N1Vision qualify with the above? I am getting it for approx 8600/-

Cheers!!

 

[sud98]

Would something like the WD My Book World edition also work as a NAS?
Network Storage Overview

The setup could then be a N class router, the etrayz or WD attached with ethernet (you could use a G class) or wirelessly (with N). Connect it with a player that can access the network with ethernet or wirelessly and access the files, right?

 

[santhosh]

Guys,
eTrayz turned on. power LEDs glowing.
HDDA is off (160GB HDD out there)
HDDB turned red
USB cyclic blinking orange/amber! stating no OS / installing OS
Network LED turned ON
eTrayz got the IP from the D-Link DI-524 - I have a static DHCP client IP configured for it now

Above is the state of eTrayz I have whenever I switch it on.

This seems to be a very common issue. I had this issue while adding my second 1.5Tb HDD on my etrayz last week. The solution (from xtreamer forums) is as below:
a) Switch off etrayz using the switch at the rear
b) You will see that the LEDs take a while to switch off because etrayz needs to shutdown gracefully
c) Switch on etrayz immediately after the LEDs go off
d) You will now be able to connect to etrayz after you hear the beep

Even Sumit had the same issue yesterday and he got around it with the workaround mentioned above.

 

[ashishkesarwani]

Guys after having etrayz with me for quite some time, its today that I have been able to access it from outside of my home network, thanks to the guys at Xtreamer forum. The main culprit was the access port i.e 8080 which is blocked by most Indian ISPs so all I had to do was to change the default port number in etrayz from 8080 to 9000 and that did the trick. I have used port forwarding in my router but I would suggest DMZ as its easier to setup.

 

[limelit1]

etrayz review

I purchased an etrayz xtreamer combo in Dec, 2009. When they arrived the xtreamer worked great. I popped in a 500Gb drive and download directly to it. I wouldn't recommend streaming to it though, diferent story with many crashes. My etrays NAS lasted about a week and quit working. After much trouble shooting and emailing back and forth, they finally agreed to send me a replacement so I packed up everything and sent it in. When the replcaement arrived, it came without the power adapter or network cable. I was informed I should not have sent these. After much complaining, they agreed to send me another power adapter to which I still have not received. It is now March and I do not have a working etrayz. Not sure if the replacement works or not as I cannot power it up. I am resolved to the fact that I probably will never receive a power adapter as I am repeatedly told to "wait as it is necessary" and that I am the proud owner of a very expensive paper weight. If you watch the promo video he makes reference to the etrayz being the size of a brick......it performs like one too. Remember your mothers good advice, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Save your money and look at some of the other wonderful NAS enclosures out there that are sold from store fronts as well as reputable sites.