I must confess that I bought this item by mistake: I expected this tiny wireless storage to be the perfect companion for my DVR (Digital Video Recorder). But I neglected to ensure that it would have a USB Host type of port, and it's not the case. So it cannot act as a flash drive for the DVR, if you follow me.
Still, it's a nice device: small enough, using a 6.3cm (2.5") hard drive, and running on a mini linux OS (telnet access to it can be enabled). Mine came as a SMC WAPS-G flashed with the latest WMU-6000FS firmware from Ovislink. This brand offers a convenient download manager (BitTorrent, HTTP and FTP) as part of its embedded software and while it's not exempt from bugs and typos, it does the job quite nicely, sending you an email when the download is done. Last seen just below €50.- (without the hard drive).
The site macsat.com and its wiki are the places for push the limits further with custom firmwares. However, you should decide if you really need those additional features and make yourself familiar with the recovery techniques (jtag) beforehand as it seems quite common to end up turning that wi-fi storage into a useless brick.
Pros:
+ affordable storage solution
+ mini Linux kernel on board
+ highly tweakable (source codes are available from some manufacturers)
Cons:
- Official development abandoned (latest fw dated 2007/12/07)
- Disputable reliability
- Some bugs
See also: Hacking MGB100
Other known clones:
Level-One (WAP-0007), Comet Labs (MGB100), Conceptronic (CHD2WLANU), Micronica (MGB100), Safecom (SWSAPUR-5400), Pearl (PE6643)
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