Story 2016-09-08 1T0XC SanDisk Connect offers tiny portable wireless flash storage for any mobile device

SanDisk Connect offers tiny portable wireless flash storage for any mobile device

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in hardware on (#1T0XC)
With a lot of phones having small internal storage and no means with which to expand it (SD cards are still uncommon), there is a constant battle to make space. There is cloud storage but WiFi internet access isn't always available. There are USB OTG (On The Go) adapters that can provide storage but it's not natively supported on many devices either.

Now we have something a little different, a wireless USB thumb drive from SanDisk, called the Connect Wireless Stick. It looks like any other simple little flash drive, the difference is the inclusion of a WiFi module and internal battery to set it up as a wireless access point, which you can log into with either a web browser, or a dedicated app for mobiles; all the data now becomes accessible over WiFi. You can stream movies easily and smoothly, but beyond about 10ft, the speed does start to drop off, and by about 30ft, it slows to a crawl.

While there are other wireless storage options, they are either limited to SD card sizes, or based on large spinning hard drives not rerally practical for truly portable use. You are most likely to get about 8 hours of wireless access time (actual data transfer) on a Connect Stick battery charge, so it's worth remembering to turn the wireless feature off when not in use (it does have an auto-sleep mode). Prices start at just $24 for 32GB, $38 for 64GB, $72 for 128GB and a $100 for the large 200GB version. Full review can be found here.
Reply 2 comments

From TFA (Score: 1)

by fishybell@pipedot.org on 2016-09-08 17:34 (#1T33K)

For the security conscious, yes, you can setup password protection so that only people with the password can connect to the device.
"Can setup a password" instead of "randomized password/SSID" equals so many people with so many leaked files.

Oh, and since it's a WIFI connection, when you connect to this device your internet connection goes away and any apps you have that eat data in the background are now eating into your wireless data quota.

...but it's only $24 for 32gb, so that's pretty good.

Re: From TFA (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2016-09-08 22:54 (#1T419)

when you connect to this device your internet connection goes away
The review mentions you can pair it with your home WiFi:

"Enter your WiFi network details, and this should make the Connect Wireless Stick available over the network - letting you access its storage and Internet at the same time."
and any apps you have that eat data in the background are now eating into your wireless data quota.
Android has a nice "Restrict Background Data" option I always use, which will stop those background updates whenever your internet access is via cellular.