How to Share an External HD on a Mac Router

Share an external hard drive with multiple Macs through a wireless router.

Apple manufactures a wireless router called the Airport Extreme that is designed to work with Mac computers. The Airport Extreme creates a local Wi-Fi network to use in your home or office, and you can also connect an external hard drive to the router. After you have connected a hard drive and enabled file sharing, all of the computers on the wireless network will be able to access the drive's data.

Things You'll Need

• Mac running OS X 10.5 or later
• Airport Extreme base station
• USB external hard drive

Instructions

1. Plug your external hard drive into the USB port on the back of the Airport Extreme wireless router.

2. Open the "Utilities" folder on your Mac and launch the "Airport Utility" application.

3. Highlight your Airport Extreme wireless router from the list on the left, then press the "Manual Setup" button.

4. Go to the "Disks" section at the top of the Airport Utility window.

5. Click on the "File Sharing" tab.

6. Check the box next to "Enable file sharing."

7. Press the "Update" button.

8. Click "Continue" to save the settings on the Apple router and start sharing the external hard drive over the wireless network.

References

• iClarified: Share a USB Hard Disk Using Your AirPort Extreme