Addonics NAS 3.0 Adapter NAS server (0 GB)

Pros: Easy to set up. Lots of options. Remote access features.

Cons: Poor streaming functionality. Long load times.

Summary: I purchased this so that I could stream my music and movies from an external HDD to computers on my WiFi network. This is what ended up happening:
Set up was easy. Connected to my D Link DI-524 router. Then connected my 320GB external HDD. Everything was off so I powered on the NAS adapter, then the HDD, then my router. Gave it a few mins so all the lights would turn solid on all the devices to show that everything was ready to go. I use a Windows 7 laptop with 4GB RAM, a 2.7GHz i5 CPU and 500GB HDD. The only devices that could be considered "old" are my router (which works just fine) and this Addonics NAS 3.0

You need to put all the files/folders you want available in a folder named "Public" so I had to disconnect everything and add my movie/music/picture folders in that folder. Then I connected everything and turned everything back on. This was the result.

Without the Addonics NAS 3.0 my WiFi works without dropping or losing it's signal. With the Addonics NAS 3.0 my router stops broadcasting the WiFi signal every couple of hours. I thought maybe this would go away after a while but after about a month of owning the product it still causes my router to drop the signal.

Trying to stream media is horrible. There is a lot of lag trying to stream over my network. Obviously when the HDD is connected directly to my computer there is zero lag, but when i'm trying to stream movies there is considerable load time (kinda like it's buffering, if that makes sense). Then, of course, the movie picture will randomly freeze, but the audio will still continue. A few seconds later the picture will "fast forward" to catch up to the audio. This happens with all movies, regardless of the size, quality or type. Music lags too, but not as much or as often. Pictures take a long time to load, but maybe it's because I have 1GB or 2GB of high quality pictures. I'm not sure. They have a 2week return policy which is basically, "send it back within 2weeks and we'll give u ur money in about a month.


So overall: I paid about $60-$70 to buy this directly from Addonics. This is definitely NOT a media streaming device. It will cause problems to your router and wifi signal. This is best for someone that needs to share small files over a network or access a HDD remotely. If you're looking to stream your music/movies/pictures over your network i suggest trying a different product or a combo HDD/wifi router.