# Suggestion for wireless ext HD for catalog?



## kautz (Jul 6, 2016)

i'm thinking about getting a wireless external HD to use for my catalog in working with a MBP and desktop iMac. Am using a cable now and Seagate Slim and it gets disconnected constantly with movement of the MBP so LR has to shut down and restart. I do want to move some photos to it for traveling w/o my comouter, but mainly want storage for a large catalog saved there. I don't stream movies or need anything fancy. Does anyone have experience with a good wireless HD? Thanks so much!


----------



## clee01l (Jul 6, 2016)

What you probably would have the best luck with is Network Attached Storage (NAS).  This a hard drive that connects to your local network.  It has its own simple computer (usually LINUX)  And you access it through your network connection.  If you computer is connected to the local network through WiFi then the connection would be wireless. 
The shortcomings are these:
You can't store your LR catalog file on the network but you can keep all of your image files there. 
You can't access it when you are away from your local network, but Smart previews would give you access to the image data to function the short periods when you are away from home.

Any wireless connection will likely be slower than accessing a disk drive through a high speed connection like Thunderbolt2 or USB3.1


----------



## kautz (Jul 7, 2016)

clee01l said:


> What you probably would have the best luck with is Network Attached Storage (NAS).  This a hard drive that connects to your local network.  It has its own simple computer (usually LINUX)  And you access it through your network connection.  If you computer is connected to the local network through WiFi then the connection would be wireless.
> The shortcomings are these:
> You can't store your LR catalog file on the network but you can keep all of your image files there.
> You can't access it when you are away from your local network, but Smart previews would give you access to the image data to function the short periods when you are away from home.
> ...


OK, I don't want to depend on a network since I will work w photos while away for extended periods of time. I want the catalog on the ext. drive and only some of my photos. So, as I read your reply, I don't want an NAS drive. 
I am concerned w the wireless being slow. Will that slowness be continuous as I use LR or only when I open or save the catalog? I'm thinking it would be slow all the time, which won't be a good solution, either.
Thanks for answering so quickly. I'll be interested in more information as asked above.


----------



## clee01l (Jul 7, 2016)

I don't know of any drives that don't use WiFi (network) to connect to the computer. As such, you are not going to be able to store your LR catalog on any WiFi connected drive. 
What drive are you thinking of getting?


----------



## kautz (Jul 7, 2016)

clee01l said:


> I don't know of any drives that don't use WiFi (network) to connect to the computer. As such, you are not going to be able to store your LR catalog on any WiFi connected drive.
> What drive are you thinking of getting?



*From Amazon, these are the 2 I've been looking at.
Seagate Wireless Plus 2TB Portable Hard Drive with Built-in WiFi (STCV2000100)

WD 2TB My Passport Wireless Portable External Hard Drive - WIFI USB 3.0 - WDBDAF0020BBK-NESN*


----------



## clee01l (Jul 7, 2016)

kautz said:


> *From Amazon, these are the 2 I've been looking at.*
> *Seagate Wireless Plus 2TB Portable Hard Drive with Built-in WiFi (STCV2000100)*
> 
> *WD 2TB My Passport Wireless Portable External Hard Drive - WIFI USB 3.0 - WDBDAF0020BBK-NESN*


LR does not permit you to use a catalog file stored on the network. Wifi is the internet network. You need to use the USB connection to use this with your LR catalog stored on the drive. This is no different from what you are doing now.


----------



## kautz (Jul 7, 2016)

clee01l said:


> LR does not permit you to use a catalog file stored on the network. Wifi is the internet network. You need to use the USB connection to use this with your LR catalog stored on the drive. This is no different from what you are doing now.


I finally understand! Thank you so much for your help.


----------

