D-link DI-808HV as a file server?

I have some family members in other towns and would like to be able to allow them to download music and video files from me here, that they can either view on their own pc or burn them to a disc.

I see in the configuration of my router D-Link DI-808HV that it has this "virtual server" tab, where apparently it can be set up to do just what I'd like to do.

Is there anybody who has done this? I can't seem to figure out how to get it working. I have my laptop, which picks up a neighbors wi-fi, so I have attempted to do testing of my different configuration settings with it (simulating a remote computer trying to access, but so far cannot access the home network here (only really want outside access to use my pc anyways, since it has the files to share)

Any help of course great appreciated.

 

There are several ways and step for resolving this issue. If you want to share files over internet, you can simply use messenger services. Of course, this requires both parties to be logged on and acceptance of both parties. So this is not always practical (good for support or single file transfer).
Let's get to another way. Virtual server option in your dlink router can be very useful. However, you need to setup many things on YOUR PC's side. Your pc basically need to be setup as file sharing server. You do not need to have server OS but still have many things to configure. 1. Enable file/folder sharing on your computer. 2. most likely, you'd want to have static LAN IP on the computer. 3. setup security on those shared files/folders. 4. setup your OS's firewall to allow exeption for file sharing. 5. configure your router to IP forward (virtual server) to your computer. 6. setup your family's pc to connect to your WAN IP or dynamic DNS. I don't know what kind of ISP you have, but most home ISP do not sell static IP accounts. So you'll need to open dynamic ip resolution account like dyndns.
If this is too much, you can always just join one of those file sharing community (p2p, megashare...etc) and you'd be done!

 

I believe I have set up most of those items on that list, I guess I was hoping that there was somebody out in internet land that had configured this router for this purpose and could help out.

It seems easier to create a nuclear reactor in your backyard, from spare parts than to get something like this operational!

P2P is not an option, since I wanted the downloads to be as fast as possible etc.

Thanks for the reply tho...I have asked on several forums and this was the only one to at least give me a reply.

 

No problem. But don't give up yet. If you really want to setup vpn or FTP service thru your router, let me know. I'll guide you the way. You need to setup the whole thing. Setting up most of the items will not work. However, depending on your computer, this might not be the fastest way to download.

 

I have followed a tutorial at tinkernut to set up a CrossFTP home server behind a router, so have accordingly set my IP on my pc (the one that will be server) to static..set the router to port forward port 21 to my machine.

Then I set up CrossFTP with my outside IP of the router (got that from the status tab of the configuration GUI of router), set up a user with a simple password, set a root directory where I will put files I wish to share on the server (made sure there was a video clip in the folder for test purposes)

When I type in the ftp addy of my router, it seems to connect, but will only display an screen that has no files, like there is nothing shared.



Here is the settings page of CrossFTP, where you can see that I have set a directory to be shared:


Again, appreciate the reply!

 

Give http://www.gbridge.com/ a try, a bit easier to setup.

Gbridge is a free software that lets you sync folders, share files, chat and VNC securely and easily. It extends Google's gtalk service to a collaboration VPN (Virtual Private Network) that connects your computers and your close friends' computers directly and securely. Gbridge has many unique features.


The virtual server does not create a file server for you:
"The Virtual Server option allows you to define a single public port on your router for redirection to an internal LAN IP Address and Private LAN port if required. This feature is useful for hosting online services such as FTP or Web Servers. "

So if you have a ftp set up on a PC @ 192.168.0.5 connected to your router, the virtual server will take a request for port 21 and send it to that pc @ 192.168.0.5...c?

 

Well, now I got it a step closer, I think, I can type the outside IP of the router and the logon screen pops up for the server like it should...logon and I now get a listing of files I shared.

Works great from my pc (the one with the server on it!) but if I try it with any machine that is not on the lan...no luck. I just end up with an ftp page with no files listed.

Not sure where to look now.:confused