SSK 2TB Portable NAS External Wireless Hard Drive Review: A Smart Storage Solution with Some Caveats

I am a retired Electrical Engineer who has been in the computing industry for over 50 years. I actually purchased this unit to use a travel and backup device. Since I only use an iPad Pro when I travel the intent was to augment the storage capability with an external device so that I could have all of my important and working files with me as well as have a place to offload the thousands of photos I take on every trip abroad. This SSK device with its high capacity HDD meets and in most cases exceeds my expectations and needs. It not only works as advertised but I have found that with a little knowledge you can connect it in other ways for even more flexibility. Here are a few of these: - when in Wireless Bridge Mode you can map the drive to a Windows or Mac File Manager System. In Win 10 File Explorer you just need to MAP the device as follows: \\(local ip address)\Share_sda1 for the HDD and you can also map the external drive as follows: \\(local ip address)\Share_sdb1 (remove the parenthesis when you set this up). The local ip address can be found in your router or in the SSK App Remote Management section. Once mapped you can read / write as if the SSK unit was inside your pc !! To use the following be sure to turn on Samba in the SSK App first. - you can also map the SSK unit to your pc when connected to your network in Wired AP (access point) Mode. To do this you need to first set your router to port forward the local ip address (see above) to port 445. You will also need to know your WAN IP address provided by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) that can be found in your router settings or by aiming a browser on your network to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ You then MAP Win 10 or Mac File Manager to \\(my WAN ip):445\Share_sda1 for the internal HDD or to \\(my WAN ip):445\Share_sdb1 for the external drive connected to the Host port. - A extra nice feature is to be abnle to actually use the iOS iPhone / iPad File Manager to access files on the SKK Drive. To do this when connected in Wired AP Mode you simply open the iOS File Manager; touch the 3 dots in the upper right hand corner; select Connect to Server; the type in the smb://(local IP address) -then touch Connect and in the following window type in the user ID and Password. The device will then pop up under Shared in the Browse Window of the App. You can then read and write as you would to any connected drive. To access your SSK unit when it is connected to your network at home via the internet do the same as above but in this case type in the following: smb://(WAN IP address):445 - as the remote connection above the local ip address of the device has to be pre setup to forward port 445 to your LAN ip address. - Access via a File Manager App such as FB Pro will give you significantly more options for sorting and accessing files. To use these apps you will need to use their setup instructions and use the following options: - use address \\(local ip address) to connect to the SSK locally and \\(WAN IP Address):445 to be able to connect remotely. In either approach make sure that Samba 2 if shown is selected and port 445 is selected The only issues I have with the device are ass follows: - user manual was awful, however a revised one is available on the support@ssk.cn web site; - it would be nice if they could speed up the wi-fi connectivity. This is especially true if you are using the SSK unit in Wireless Bridge Mode where it requires 2 different wi-fi connections to work. When in Wired AP Mode the unit is faster but could still use improvement. It would also be nice if they could 5Ghz support - when connecting external devices to the Host port if you use other than a usb Thumbdrive you will likely need to connect a powered device or USB HUB. This is especially true if you connect a HDD or a USB type C device. A recommended change to the SSk unit would be to change the design to accommodate USB C type connector so that external devices can be powered without a HUB or power supply. - one other thing to note is that once you start using the SSK unit you will find that there are pre configured folders already setup on the HDD you MUST LEAVE THESE as they are for the device to work correctly. You can add additional folders here in the root area or you can add additional folders to the already existing folders but you MUST leave these folders named as they are. - the SSK unit will operate with 2 different local ip addresses. It will use one when connected in Wireless Bridge Mode and a different one when connected in Wired AP Mode. Because of this, if you want to use any of the connection methods identified above you may need to set each up 2 ways. If using ONLY the SSK App for access to the internal or external drives then the App will automatically resolve this ip address issue as it will try to connect both ways when started. Myself, I like the options provided above as I can freely move files and folders anywhere and display folder contents in different ways. The good thing is you only need to set these up once and then you will be good to go for as long as you use the SSK device. All in all I found this to be and excellent device. It works well, is quite easy to configure and use; has excellent compatibility for nearly any way someone might like to use and is manufactured very well. The price is also excellent !!! Stay tuned. Although I know that it will void the warranty I will be attempting to install a 2TB SSD in place of the HDD in the near future. I will add additional comments here when I do. I hope that this review has helped you. Well done SSK !!

Purchased on July 12, 2023, received on July 20, died on July 23, not working even on wired USB 3 mode. Because it had some personal data, I won't return it, so I open it up and tested the drive out of the enclosure with SATA to USB Cable USB 3.0, the drive was dead. The data transmission in wireless bridge and Wired Access Point were very slow, around 6 Mb/s, had to use it on wired mode to copy my media files, then reconnected wireless. My idea was to store some files and share my music through my devices (I use one device at a time). I don’t need expensive NAS with Raid or remote access. You have to turn on the device and choose the F200 wireless on the Wifi on your phone. Load the App and set the password, at the bottom it indicates that the F200 needs internet connection, so on the settings you choose internet connection, but only my 2.4 Ghz was shown not the 5 Ghz, so I entered the password of my local network, then it goes away, it did not tell if it was connected or if was an incorrect password, so you go to home of App and see if it is connected, sometimes is shows scanning Lan, so I have to close and open the App and enter the password, most of the time it does no work, horrible experience, once connected you can go to settings and find the IP, I went to my Arris router configuration and set a static IP, then another complication with the mapping, sometimes connected, others was trial and error. In the end I could manage to map all of my devices, then it died, I did not have even a chance to properly use it. The drive gets very hot, so keep it in a ventilated area. Mapping the drive was a pain, instructions were not clear. PC boots too slow and sometimes screen goes black while booting. While browsing its content through windows explorer, it gets slow and unresponsive. The App is mediocre and instructions unclear. For backing up your phone is OK, but if you want to use it with PC, get a real NAS instead.

Cumple con lo que dice, entrega rapida

It can be a little finicky to get it to pair. Once it has you won't have any issues that I can see

Backed up a couple of files to test - tried larger files and backup stopped during the night. Disk no longer recognised by Linux, windows or osx.

Update 16/12 - I'm reducing this from 4 stars to 2 stars as the battery conked out after about 6 months. It will not recharge from a power source that is not some kind of computer - ie, recharge from the wall - and will not switch on unless it is plugged into a computer. If it is plugged into a computer, it comes online, but when it is plugged into a computer the wifi function doesn't work and it operates just as an external hard drive. So essentially for my money, after 6 months of more or less satisfactory wireless use, all I've got is a very expensive external hard drive. I spoke with the vendor; apparently they would have refunded me or shipped me a new unit had I bought from them direct or had bought in the US or Europe. As I had bought in Singapore, they advised me to contact the Amazon store direct from whom I had bought it. Fortunately, the Amazon store in question - FAST BUY IN - accepted my story and refunded the money. So kudos and big props to FAST BUY IN, I am deffo buing from them again. But it's all a bit poor, I definitely would no longer recommend buying this device. I've still given 2 stars for my lingering love for it, and because the response from the manufacturer's support staff really is lightning fast, even if ultimately useless in my case. ***************************************************** I love this device so much! A huge drive, big enough to carry my whole entertainment repository and so much more, available to me as a wireless cloud wherever I go. It's the only thing of its kind I'm aware of on the market. There's a couple of small wireless devices you can get that accept flash drives and data sticks, to make them available as a personal cloud, but they are small potatoes compared to this, and in their own ways more unreliable. This is the best that I've found. So why only 4 stars? Well, you can love something and acknowledge its flaws. The main ones are - * activation isn't completely reliable. Sometimes the drive seems to fail to mount, and you can't access the content. I just switch it off and switch it on again, although that is a slightly lengthy process. * I think the wifi signal isn't strong, and can get overwhelmed by your local signal. On occasion, if it's not in the mood, files will load too slowly to be acceptable, and sound and video will stutter badly. Again, you switch it on and off and eventually it seems to find its feet. * the software could be a little more fully featured. In particular, I'd welcome a power indicator. But it does most of what you want. The build feels a little cheap and it remains to be seen how durable it will be. Contrary to other Amazon reviews, though, setting it up was a breeze, and I found the accompanying documentation comprehensive enough. When I contacted their support about the stuttering problem, they were very prompt and friendly. I still sometimes have the problem, though.

La velocidad de transferencia no cumple con la velocidad en la descipción del producto. Tal y como se ve en la imagen. Cuando es archivo de mas de 1gb manda el error an unexpected network error ocurred. La prueba la hice en varios momentos y en varios días con el mismo resultado. Lo iba a devolver, pero amazon no maneja un servicio de retorno. Por lo que cotice en algunos servicios de envio y ellos solo devuelven hasta 400 pesos, lo cual no cubre ni la midad del retorno. Sirve como disco duro, pero defitivamente no como un NAS, ni si quiera como algo nos sirva para compartir remotamente. Por lo que no recomiendo para nada este producto. Es demasiado caro para lo ofrece y miente de sus prestaciones.