Synology USB Station 2

If you have a USB device such as a printer or hard disk, the Synology USB Station 2 can connect it to your home network. It is considerably cheaper than buying a full network hard disk (Nas disk) but it has fewer features.

As a simple way to connect a couple of printers and external USB hard disks, it is a great idea. In the box is the device itself, a power cable and a network cable, along with the instructions and an installation disk.

Setting it up was easy: we plugged it into the mains, then into the network before attaching USB cables for the printer and hard disk. The quick installation guide goes through the step-by-step process of getting it working within a few minutes and there is also a CD that contains useful software to locate and manage devices on the network. It took us about five minutes to attach a single printer and a hard disk, connecting them and asking the software on the PC to locate them on the network.

Disappointingly, the USB Station 2 only has two USB connections, which is somewhat limiting if you wish to network more devices than that. There is a handy button that allows for USB hard disks to be safely removed from the device.

The contents of any USB disks attached to the device can be browsed using a web browser. The interface was fairly easy to follow, but some of the options were confusing. There is a control panel with plenty of choices available and a quick-start wizard to explain the various features, which was a welcome inclusion.

Files can be downloaded easily enough, but transfer speeds were sluggish. It was quick to move a few albums of music, text documents and a photos, but moving a film was more arduous.

There is an audio-streaming feature to play any music stored on the connected hard disk using any computer on the network, which worked very well indeed, as did the network printing.

It's cheap and flexible but a full network hard disk will offer a better experience and features.