Making my external hard drive bluetooth

I have a Western Digital 500gb external harddrive and its connected to my laptop by a 4' usb 2.0 cord (A to mini B). But the cord is never long enough (aka when i want to watch movies in bed) so i was wondering if there is an adapter or kit to buy that makes my external hd bluetooth or any wireless form?

 

I don't think you'll be too happy with bluetooth, the transfer speed is only something like 100 kb/s. If you have a router you could put the drive into something like a Vantec NAS enclosure and hook it up as a network drive. That would let you access it through your laptop's wifi. I think you can get those enclosures for around $60.

 

okay the only thing is it would only work if i had access to the router right? For example im heading up to college and i want to take it with me so is there any other way?

 

I think there are wireless USB connection solutions nowadays but I don't know anything about them I'm afraid. Google for 'wireless USB adapter' and you'll get some leads.

 

Wireless USB is a separate standard and it's very expensive right now. Just pick up a 10' USB cable, it's going to be the only solution you're happy with in the end. Setting it up as NAS is going to cut your speeds down a lot too.

 

That's what i thought at first too the only thing i i have read multiple reviews that say you must use the 4' cord because its essential for the data transfer and if not transferring data will be hit or miss and you'll receive alot of errors.

 

I do have a sort of Rube Goldberg-ish work-around, although it could be a wee bit pricey:

Get a wireless router that can act as a repeater and/or access point or bridge, then get a network USB hub from Belkin - this device is designed to allow the user to connect up to 5 external USB devices (including drives) to the network through one of the LAN ports on a router.

Set the wireless router up so that it's basically acting as a repeater for the wireless signal coming from the network you're connecting to, and then plug the usb hub into one of the LAN ports on the router.

The only fly in the ointment is that I haven't done enough research to know whether a router that's set to repeat mode will repeat the signal just for wireless devices, or will also repeat the signal over its wired LAN ports.

If you've got a spare wireless router lying around, one that can act as a repeater, it might be worth the time to buy the belkin hub, experiment a bit, and if it doesn't work, return the hub for a refund.

 

Hey shyster, it should repeat over the LAN ports too, it's almost acting as a wireless bridge in that mode.

 

Thanks for the info. I've got one of each (spare wireless router and Belkin usb hub) stashed somewheres, I just don't know exactly where that somewheres is.

 

thanks for the info but i think ill just try out the 10' cord. all that stuff could be quite a pinch on a college student's wallet.

 

A very wise move. Since I've got the bits-n-pieces somewheres, if I find them I'll give it a try and see if it works.

 

Ive used 2(15) foot usb cables paired together with success, you'll be just fine with the 10ft.

 

dude, bluetooth has no bandwith, just try transferring a file to and from your phone or vice versa. It sucks. Secondly, if your a college student you cannot hook up a drive to NAS enclosure, because you cant use a switch or a router on college networks. Both wifi network and wired. They have ip limitations. So no go there. Your best bet would be to get a longer usb cable. Buy a good quality one, maybe one from monoprice.com and you should be set!