Does a router that can act like a cloud drive exist?

I want to hook up my external harddrive to my router and then be able to upload, download, and view photos and videos from it from any of my electronic devices (ipad, laptop, android phone) wireless.

Ideally I'd like to be able to do this from anywhere in the world but if that's not possible, then just within my own home. The main goal is to be able to upload photos/videos into my external hard drive wireless through all my different electronic devices.

Is there a router or some other device that would allow me to do this? I'm trying to keep from having to pay a monthly fee for a cloud drive since I have tons of videos/photos.

Thanks.

 

Asus makes routers that ship with something they call "aicloud" that does exactly what you want. As always of course with asus routers, they are feature packed but can sometimes have poor firmware or odd quirks. An N66U or and N56U is something you can look at, good hardware (though it's on the medium/high end of pricing).

 

If you have a lot of data to store and you need bandwidth, liik into network attached storage (NAS). NAS vary greatly in features and price range though, so if you intend to go the NAS route, better give us a budget.

 

Thanks a lot guys. I think I'll get the asus router. Thanks for mentioning the NAS too. I really only need about 200-300 MB of data (though I do want to stream HD video) so think asus should work.

 

The Asus will be pretty much at the limit for 1080p compressed content. The reason is simple: most routers have trouble achieving more than 5-10MB/s with an external drive. In my experience, it is enough for compressed HD content without too much loss in quality. If you do get the Asus router and it's not enough, on the bright side, you'll have a very good router and you can always get a NAS at a later date.

 

Does the asus rt-n56u have the same aicloud capabilities and the rt-n66u? By "aicloud" I mean all the stuff I asked for in my original post.

A youtube video said it would with firmware updated but everything I read on aicloud only lists the 66u model as compatible.

Thanks.

 

An asus tech answered my question. Rt-n56u does not support aicloud at this moment. N66u and two other routers do. Asus has mentioned plans for updating n56u firmware so it is compatible but I don't know when or if that will really happen. Thanks everyone for your help.