LG N2R1D 2 Bay DVD Network Attached Storage Enclosure

It's a great little unit - I bought mine 'barebones' popped in a couple of spare drives with absolutely no hassle and let it do it's thing in setting them up - simple so far.

Install the software - easy

Run the NAS Detector - easy

Then you need to run the NAS Monitor > Open > Web Menu

but you will need to rely on the on-screen help (which is variable) from here in - the manual just doesn't cut it and many of the choices are not explained - that said, leaving the default settings was generally fine for me as I wasn't setting up complex user accounts.

OK, So this is now my third NAS....

The first a netgear Stora... Lets not go there, poor poor poor
The second a D-Link DNS323, didn't support DLNA?? really?

And this is the third, bought for several reasons, 1. It's LG, a good brand who have the money and expertise to make a decent product, and they really have, it's build quality is stunning, has some amazing extra features such as the card reader, USB ports front and rear, nice front door and loading design (although fidly to get the screws into the HD with it being recessed). 2. The reviews are quite favourable so I thought I'd give it a shot. 3. Features, It supports everything, DLNA, UPNP, ISCSI, DDNS (works VERY well, you can set up you nas easily with a web address such as ???.lgnas.com and view your password protected files anywhere around the world), Bittorrent Client (although not wideley advertised it works very well).

BUT... It has everything right? no, the one thing I wanted it to do was to stream to my PS3 in the front room, My Sony TV in the front room, my Sony BDS-S370 blu-ray player in my bedroom, our 360 in the games room, and 3 Samsung TV's in the spare rooms... ALL devices are DLNA cetified which this is supposed to be... I actived the DLNA and viola every device was viewing and streaming media flawlessly, I could even stream HD to THREE, YES THREE TV's at once... BUT it only lasted for a day. I turned on the PS3 and it said DLNA protocol error, I tried all devices and it couldn't see anything. So I restarted it and it worked again, for about an hour then died again. I tried changing the gigabit switches around (have netgear and belkin) but that didn't help. Now the DLNA won't work at all.

So maybe I have a faulty one?? there's not much info on forums or support anywhere to help with this so it's got to go back, I am absolutly gutted because it really is an awesome device...

Pro's

1. Design and Build Quality
2. Noise (there isn't any except for the first 2 mins booting up)
3. Box features, USB ports, Card Readers, Disc drive (which I would actually rather not have but ah well, some may like this)
4. Web service works well
5. Fast at data transfer (got an average 16mbps from my laptop over a wireless N network and gigabit switches)
6. Torrent client works well
7. Nice software with plenty of customasible options
8. I had read the manual was poor but they must have updated it as mine was great with colour installation photos etc
9. Easy to use and user friendly, great for a non IT geek

Cons

1. CRAP at streaming media
2. USB transfer wasn't easy (added flash drive and nothing happened, rebooted and added flash drive, it flashed on the screen back up, I selected yes, It stayed at 0% for 20 mins (only a 4gb flash drive), I even went through all the USB sync process and added the device correctly but never got this working)

So now am about to buy the QNAP TS-210 which has twonky media server built in so will hopefully work better for me....

Once again I am GUTTED this won't stream media as I LOVE IT... What a shame...

Arrived on time. The LG NAS box was very easy to set up and all leads were provided. I quickly installed a disk drive (very quick, the screws are provided and then it simply plugs into the unit). The box configures itself on powering up.
After that the utilities are installed from the supplied CD (via your PC and not the drive on on the nas-box). From this you can finish off the configuration. You will need to read the full manual supplied on the CD as there are plenty of options required to set up fully. However it is easy.
In use it is very quiet (I can't hear it running and it is next to me). The response speed is reasonable, there are so many things that affect transfer speed it is difficult to state whether it is fast or not.
The only downside is the supplied backup software (hence only 4 stars). The software has no means of logging into the drive and so is unable to backup automatically without user intervention. I much prefer other backup software that is specially written for NAS boxes and will automatically log in (such as Yosemite Barracuda or Acronis).
I also quickly set up the internet address from the menu and can now access my nas-box from the internet with ease
In summary a very easy to install nas-box, that can be accessed from all computers on your network. Runs very quiet and provides several useful services.