When technology-related shows like CES or PAX are happening, I tend to watch YouTube closely to see all of the latest and greatest technology that is being shown off at the show. Not being able to go myself, I educate myself with what’s new through other people.
Many of the YouTubers I watch tend to be a team of people, that way they can cover nearly all of the show. When night falls, the YouTubers return to their hotel rooms to edit and upload their new videos. Being first is crucial when everybody else is uploading the same content.
As a team, it can sometimes be difficult to share your content with each other when you only have half of your needed equipment to operate. A laptop, mouse, camera and some audio gear is already a lot for one person to carry onto a plane and travel with.
So, when teamwork is needed to be the first upload on YouTube, collaboration is needed to be successful. That said, it’s difficult if multiple people need to access multiple files at once; in this case, video footage.
Since they are away from their workplace, their main storage device is out of reach and files need to be transferred to one person at a time through a USB flash drive or SD card.
What if these teams could transfer their files to everyone else in the team at once? They could take out the SD card from the camera that day and share all of the footage so that the video could be published in just a few hours after being recorded.
With today’s product, such a thing is possible. Having the ability to share files, create a wireless hotspot, read SD cards and USB flash drives, and charge your phone all at once is how publishing that video first is possible.
Welcome to my review of the RAVPower All-in-one file hub, model RP-WD03. Throughout this review, I will be discussing the following topics: the design, functionality, and my final thoughts. A special thank you to RAVPower for providing this device.
Design
A little over three years ago is when I began writing reviews for Tech Support Forum. It was an exciting beginning that has led to, in my opinion, a great success that helps thousands of readers. One of the earlier products that I reviewed was a HooToo TripMate, a product that is very similar to today’s review product.
The HooToo TripMate was a bizarre product that had a niche market. For $50 (at the time) HooToo provided a portable router that ran off of an internal battery and offered file sharing functionality. Seeing that RAVPower and HooToo are sister companies, it’s inevitable that we will see some close similarity in today’s product.
When looking at the design for the RAVPower Filehub, there is a matte black finish that also contains glossy sides. After browsing on Amazon or RAVPower’s website and opening the box, product images show that it comes in a white variant. Unfortunately, this white version seems to be a myth as I cannot find one online.
On the face of the unit is an embossed RAVPower name, wireless indication LED, battery status LEDs, and a large interaction button that turns on/off the Filehub. This home button also has a glowing ring around it for notifications.
The sides of the Filehub contains the unit’s microUSB charging input, a reset button, a full-sized SD card slot reader, an RJ45 Ethernet jack, and a full-sized USB port. The Ethernet jack and USB port are covered by a snug-fitting seal while the rest of the inputs are exposed to the elements.
For what this product is, the Filehub is quite large and heavy. Measuring 3.75 (L) x 2.06 (W) x 1.00 (H) inches and weighing 5.4 ounces this is not something you’ll be carrying in your pocket all day. Moreover, RAVPower added these rounded off edges so it does not like to stand up, but it is easier to hold in the hand.
I mention the measurements and weight because when I reviewed the HooToo TripMate three years ago, it was smaller and lighter than this RAVPower unit (see the picture below). Additionally, the TripMate contained all of the same functionality and is close to the same battery capacity. RAVPower seems to have forgotten their past.
Functionality
The main purpose for the Filehub is to allow users to share files over a local internet connection. This is done either by using an SD card or USB storage device. Additionally, you can share files over its created network.
Sharing files in this format is also known as a NAS, a Network Attached Storage. You can place files onto the SD card/USB that is connected to the Filehub, then users who are also connected to the Filehub can access these files.
Moreover, the Filehub also contains router capabilities. The Filehub can connect to a wired or wireless internet connection and then become a portable router for your other devices. This can be very useful if you are in a hotel or area that only has Ethernet. By connecting the Filehub to the Ethernet line, you can then create a wireless network for yourself. Do note that the Ethernet cable does not allow you to turn a wired device into a wireless one.
If you are at home and cannot get the range that you need from your router to your other wireless devices, the Filehub can also repeat your existing connection and boost it. However, this is only a temporary solution as from my experience you receive a decrease in speeds and since it runs on battery power, the Filehub will sooner or later need to be recharged.
Before doing any of this, the Filehub first needs to be configured and setup. Something that I find cool is that the Filehub has two configuration methods. You can either use their provided Windows tool or mobile application, or everything can be performed through a web user interface (UI) which I heavily prefer.
In the web UI, everything about the Filehub can be configured. The home page contains the major display tiles such as videos, photos, music, documents, a file explorer, and settings. All of the tiles, with the exception of settings, will show you files that they are associated with. For example, a USB stick with pictures on it will not show in videos as the files will contain .jpg .png .gif tags.
For the settings menu, tech junkies will find that they can change a lot of the internal settings. Admin and guest access, network settings, including SSID, passwords, IP and Subnet address, device name, and more can all be adjusted. There are even options to create a DHCP server and DLNA support.
Quite frankly, there isn’t any setup to be done to get started. It’s so easy that most wouldn’t have any trouble whatsoever. I would recommend that the default passwords are changed and make sure to configure your time zone.
For testing, I connected a 4GB SD card that contains pictures and video to the Filehub . After a few seconds of analyzing the SD card, I could easily browse the contents using the file explorer. Pictures remained in full high-resolution quality and videos had great HD playback. It was as if I had the videos stored on my phone.
I did notice that when the SD card was connected, it did not populate the videos and picture tiles on the home screen. They remained empty for the entire session of this review.
While I enjoy how smooth the playback of the video and response time of the web UI was, this was while the Filehub was only a few inches away from my phone. Travelling only twenty feet away with a direct line of sight to the Filehub drastically hindered the playback performance. Increasing the wireless range for this product is its enemy.
Next, I connected the Filehub to my home’s wireless network. After a reconnect of my connection, I was accessing the World Wide Web. I ran a speed test to see if this AP mode had delayed my connection and it did. I received a download speed of 17.3 Mbps and upload speed of 5.2 Mbps while connected to the Filehub. To put this into perspective, I received 38 Mbps download and 6 Mbps upload speeds when connected directly to the router.
If you do connect the Filehub to a wireless network, good luck getting it to disconnect. There isn’t an option for the Filehub to forget a connected network. The only way for me to disconnect it from my network was to perform a full factory reset.
When looking at a security aspect of the Filehub, RAVPower adds a default password to the wireless connection so that others cannot just openly join. However, the admin portal does not have a password, but one can be added. For network traffic encryption, RAVPower does not specify if the Filehub is WPA/WPA2 encrypted.
Finally, the Filehub contains a 6000 mAh internal battery that can sacrifice some of its power to charge your devices. I charged different devices like my phone, but I noticed that the amperage does tend to jump all over the place. Moreover, when charging some wireless earbuds, the device would cut the power and turn off, even if the earbuds still needed power. If the unit was on NAS/router mode, then power continued to flow.
My Final Thoughts
With its easy setup, friendly user interface, and strong NAS functionality, this file sharing device does what RAVPower intended it to do. Priced at $39.99 I think it’s a great product if you are on the go and wish to share files to those around you. Photographers, video editors, or people with content to share will find it useful that they can connect an SD card and then have as many people as they’d like to receive the files.
Buy it Now:
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