How to connect your Edge to your LAN, for dummies!

If you have a second computer or several computers at your place in a homegroup or in a workgroup and you want to log your Edge to your network, so that all your devices are interconnected, you can do it very easily. This adds yet another option for file sharing, which makes Edge an incredible device (LAN transfer between computers, USB, wifi, USB cable, SD Card, Bluetooth, and I hope IPad users have a fine time watching this festival of Edge file transfers on TV!!!! )

This is all thanks to Filark, who reported a sucessful LAN connection and opened our eyes to the possibility.

So let's do it.

In ES File Manager, you have a scrollable box at the upper right, usually "Local". If you scroll this box down, you get three options: Local / Lan / FTP.
You choose LAN.

Then you see another window, and you have to press "Menu" to get options.
One option is to create a new server. The other, creating a new "Scan".
You "Scan", and all the computers in your network will come up with their respective IPs.

And now what?

NOTHING! You click the computer you want to connect to, and voilá, you are exploring all the shared folders and have all files available.

Isn't it a piece of cake? Everything took just seconds. No settings.

So ES File Explorer, as I have read elsewhere, includes a Samba protocol to handle LAN networking between Windows and Linux. It is a powerful file manager after all!
I don't know if Astro or AndroZip offer this option, as I don't use them.

I have a wifi connection, so I don't need a LAN cable. But if your network is wired, I guess you just need the USB-LAN adapter and plug the cable into the Edge and to a router or switch.

Although all shared PCs did came up listed, the Android tablet which my husband has did not (he was next to me, using the same wifi connection).

So I wonder if anyone knows how to "share" folders in the Edge, I mean share for networking. I have tried to figure out options, but nothing like "Share this folder" came up.
If anyone knows how to do it, please say. Perhaps an app for file sharing?

This guide has turned out to be so simple, that it can hardly be called a guide.
I hope it may be useful to others. And thanks again to Filark!

The Edge really rocks!

wow, this really opens more options then I could have imagine. Thanks very much for explaining this.

now I gotta go and check it out.

The way I 'share' files from my EE is to copy them to our FTP server. I'm looking for a FTP server for Android or an SDK for the EE so our programmer can write one for me, that way I will be able to access the EE from any other computer.

Thank you paula

This is great, Paula!! Thank you for posting it clearly!

I tried to change the title of my original thread but couldn't. Much better to tell people what the thread is about than to make a meaningless pun on the word "eDGe" for a thread title!

It sounds from your instructions as if the EE and PE are slightly different, or maybe it's Dingo/Ermine that makes the difference.

Paula, Many thanks.
Just copied pdf file from desktop to PE immediately.

I tried this last night, but for some reason, every time I click on a folder, it tells me I have to have a password and username... I know I am obviously doing something wrong or need to do something else. Any ideas? thanks!

I think you should have shared your folders before, as a general step, so as to be able to see them and access them.
Permissions have several levels (read, write, total control).
If your folders are shared, you should have no problem. But maybe another more experienced member will provide better help.

Originally Posted by Leslie

I tried this last night, but for some reason, every time I click on a folder, it tells me I have to have a password and username... I know I am obviously doing something wrong or need to do something else. Any ideas? thanks!

Create a Folder (e.g. Entourage Edge) or use an existing folder. In Windows Explorer, right click on the Folder and select Share. When the pop up occurs select Everyone. Since you are now theoretically sharing this Folder with everyone in your Local Area Network (LAN) I would only use it for temporary storage and transfer of information to your PE.

Originally Posted by ivan

The way I 'share' files from my EE is to copy them to our FTP server. I'm looking for a FTP server for Android or an SDK for the EE so our programmer can write one for me, that way I will be able to access the EE from any other computer.

I didn't see your request earlier, but here are two apps that might work for you: BucketUpload and AndFTP, both available from SlideME.org.

Thanks Paula.

Is there a way to connect PE to LAN using ethernet? I see there is Ethernet option in PE network settings. And I know there are USB-Ethernet converters available. Has any one tried it?

Yes, someone here at the Forum said they had connected with the USB-Ethernet converter and it was fine.

For your records, I made the attempt of watching a movie in the Edge, through LAN connection.
The movie was an .avi file and I had it in my PC. Husband said, "Hmmm... Difficult...."
But we could do it without lag. It was fun for a test!

You know, some of us insist on demanding all kinds of things to our Edges, as if it were a powerful PC.
A new user here commented this in a separate thread today.

We know, of course, it is not a powerful PC, but it is great to see to which extent the EE is responsive, even beyond what is reasonable.

I think it was Sarah here or Cheyenne who said they were forced to do without their main computer for a couple of weeks, and they could virtually
do all the same things with their Edges.

Because we are all used to work with good devices in general, either Linux or Windows or Macs, we tend to transfer this level of expectations and
demand on our Android devices. Of course, not all Android tablets deliver, and most of them remind their users that they are simply toys
or sophisticated phones.

However, you will read along these threads that the Edge responds surprisingly well, even considering it has an ARM 5.5 motherboard and not
the latest version of Android. This speaks really well of the Edge, and the more I think of it, the more I regret it didn't make its way to full success.

No matter what, the Edge is a sturdy, responsive, reliable, powerful device. This is my conclusion after my first three months of happy, continued use.