6 surprisingly useful makes use of for the USB port in your router
The USB port in your router is commonly unused and but it provides sensible capabilities that may make on a regular basis life simpler. You are able to do issues like saving and sharing information, cellular charging, and even an automated backup of your knowledge. We’ll let you know precisely how this works and what else you are able to do together with your router’s USB port under.
Additional studying: Greatest USB-C cables 2025: Get high quality charging and knowledge transfers
What can the USB port on the router do?
The USB port on the router provides numerous capabilities relying in your mannequin. Listed here are a number of the most helpful purposes:
- Printer sharing: Join a USB printer to the router to make it obtainable as a community printer for all gadgets on the community. This protects you having to vary cables or drivers forwards and backwards.
- Community-attached storage (NAS): Join an exterior onerous drive or USB follow retailer information centrally. You can also make paperwork, images or movies accessible to all gadgets within the house community and, with some fashions, even stream content material corresponding to movies and music immediately.
- Backups: Many routers assist automated backups. Information from the community are robotically backed as much as a related USB storage machine, both time managed or in actual time as quickly as new information are created. You will discover directions for this additional down on this article.
- Energy provide for IoT gadgets: Some USB ports are appropriate for powering small gadgets corresponding to IoT hubs, sensible LED lamps, or chargers. A sensible resolution if there is no such thing as a free socket close by.
- Cell web: In case your router helps LTE dongles, you may simply swap to a cellular knowledge connection within the occasion of an web outage. That is notably helpful when you want a secure connection and your landline connection fails.
- Cost gadgets: Some router fashions will let you cost smartphones, tablets, or different gadgets by way of the USB port.
Fritzbox with related onerous drive as router NAS
AVM
Which gadgets are you able to join?
The kind of supported gadgets additionally depends upon the router mannequin. Examine the working directions to see which gadgets your router helps and which connections are appropriate.
Find out how to use the USB port for automated backups:
- Join a USB onerous drive or follow the router. Generally, the storage machine can be acknowledged robotically.
- Log in by way of the router’s person interface and seek for choices corresponding to “Backup” or “Storage.”
- Choose the choice “New Backup Job” or an identical operate and comply with the directions of the wizard.
- Determine whether or not you need a scheduled backup or a real-time backup that saves adjustments instantly.
- Carry out the primary backup manually to make sure that all the things is about up accurately.
Additional studying: Resolve your Wi-Fi issues with these sensible router settings
This text initially appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.
