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Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station review: Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station

Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station

Dong Ngo SF Labs Manager, Editor / Reviews
CNET editor Dong Ngo has been involved with technology since 2000, starting with testing gadgets and writing code for CNET Labs' benchmarks. He now manages CNET San Francisco Labs, reviews 3D printers, networking/storage devices, and also writes about other topics from online security to new gadgets and how technology impacts the life of people around the world.
Dong Ngo
7 min read

Editors' note: This review was updated on March 8, 2010, to correct the rating and add information about backup and security software for the device, which Iomega provides via downloads.

6.9

Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station

The Good

The Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station is compact, good-looking, easy to use, and affordable. It can host multiple USB external hard drives and printers. It also comes with some good features and supports both PCs and Macs, including Apple's Time Machine.

The Bad

The Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station's performance could be better compared with full-size NAS servers. Its USB ports are not optimally positioned; most are on the front. The device doesn't support USB 3.0 nor does it come with any backup software in the package.

The Bottom Line

The Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station is a great device to quickly turn your USB external hard drives into a robust network storage solution. Its compact design and ease of use more than make up for its average throughput performance, which is fast enough for most casual file sharing and backup needs.

First introduced at CES 2010, the Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station is the most compact yet full-featured NAS server ever made. With no storage included, the device has four USB ports to host external hard drives and printers. Supporting NTFS and FAT32 file systems, the server is a perfect solution when you want multiple users in a network to access data already stored on external hard drives. Moreover, the iConnect comes with a good amount of network storage features, making it well worth the $100 price.

On the downside, the NAS server's throughput performance, though comparable with most old NAS servers and faster than routers with built-in storage support, is significantly slower than new NAS servers. Its USB ports' locations could also use some rearrangement.

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If you are looking to quickly turn your USB external hard drives into a robust network storage solution, the Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station is arguably the best deal on the market.

Design and setup
Measuring just 1.1 inches thick by 6.3 inches wide by 5.2 inches long and weighing less then 10 ounces, the Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station looks more like a compact external hard drive than a NAS server. The unit comes with four USB ports to host USB external storage devices and printers. You probably won't want to use too many USB devices with it, however, as only one of the USB ports is on the back; the other three are on the front, meaning you will likely have USB cables running all over the place if you plug a few devices to it. For this reason, the iConnect might be better suited under the desk rather than on top of it, despite its good looks. We wish the three USB ports were on the back of the device.

Also on the front is a Quick Copy button that allows for copying entire contents of a USB storage device, such as a thumb drive, onto another, such as a high-capacity external hard drive. To use this feature, you will first need to designate one device to be the destination of the backup. This can be done rather easily via the device's Web interface.

It's worth noting that all of the USB ports are based on the USB 2.0 standard. Now that USB 3.0-based external storage devices are available, we wish that the iConnect supported this new and much faster standard, too. Nonetheless, we tried multiple bus-powered USB 2.0 devices with the NAS server and found that its USB ports were able to power all of them.

On the back of the device, apart from the fourth USB port, is a Gigabit Ethernet port to connect the server to the local network. The server can also be hooked to the network wirelessly, as it has a built-in Wireless-N adapter. However, its network port is a preferable way if you want to get the best data transfer rate.

We had no problem setting up the new iConnect. The setup process involves the installation of the Iomega Storage Manager software, which helps map connected USB external hard drives to a network computer and launches the Web-based interface, which allows you to further customize other settings. Other than using the Iomega Storage Manager software, you can also access the iConnect using Windows Explorer the way you would access another computer in a local network. Mac computers will automatically see the new NAS server in the Finder.

The Web interface, which can be launched from any network computer by pointing a Web browser to the iConnect's IP address, is intuitive and easy to use; however, we found it rather sluggish at times, especially when changes are being applied. Still, it's organized and we think most users can figure things out by themselves.

Features
Out of the box, the iConnect offers a straightforward and simple way for network users to access the storage it hosts. Each external hard drive connected to the NAS will be available as a share folder that everybody has the same full access to. This can be done using the Iomega Storage Manager software as mentioned above or manually via a network browser, such as Windows Explorer.

Savvy users, however, can further customize this by enabling the "Security" feature of the NAS server via its Web interface. Once enabled, this allows for restricting access to each share folder via users account. An admin user can create more user accounts and assign access privileges (including read, write, and no access) for each user account to each external storage device. This restriction can be applied at the device level, however, meaning you won't be able to apply it to each folder on a connected external hard drive, only the entire hard drive itself.

The security feature also allows for another important feature of the iConnect: remote access. The device uses the TZO Dynamic DNS service for its remote over-the-Internet access. You'll get the first year for free, but you'll have to pay $10 for each subsequent year.

If your router supports UPnP (which most new routers do), the setup process for the remote connection is entirely transparent to you, via a few mouse clicks. Otherwise, you'll need to manually forward the port number 443 to the IP address of the server. At the end of the setup process you will be given a URL that links to the iConnect from any computer that's connected to the Internet. You then can access the server as though you were on a computer in the same local network.

Though the remote access feature gives excellent management capability to the NAS, it's limited when it comes to accessing data. The iConnect doesn't allow you to upload and download multiple files or folders at a time. Other NAS servers also allow you to play back digital content such as photos, music, or video, via the Internet; the iConnect can only play back photos in the form of slideshows.

The iConnect's self download feature is limited to supporting only BitTorrent. This means you can't use it to download large files from other services such as RapidShare or from any Web site or FTP site.

Other than that, we found regular features of the NAS working well. It supports Windows file sharing, Apple file sharing, and you can also upgrade its firmware easily. The server is also capable of streaming media by supporting a variety of media serving standards including UPnP, DLNA, and iTunes. All you can do is to turn this feature on or off. When on, the server will automatically look for digital content from all of the connected USB external hard drives and make it available to media streaming devices. You have no further control over this, such as what type of files to be shared, from what folder, how often the server looks for newly added content, etc.

Unlike other NAS servers from Iomega, such as the StorCenter ix2-200, the iConnect's productivity software doesn't come bundled in the package. Instead, Iomega provides just the link where users can download the software, which includes a few backup and security applications, such as one-year subscriptions to TrendMicro Internet Security, EMC Restrospect, and Iomega QuickProtect. To download the software, users are required to go to Iomega's Web site , type in the device's serial number, and their e-mail address.

We found this process to be a hassle and intimidating for novice home users, especially those who are not comfortable with installing software. This sort of defeats the iConnect's ease of use, which is the device's main appeal. It would be much more helpful if the software were included on the setup CD that contains the Iomega Storage Manager.

Performance
When compared with NAS servers from a few years ago, and routers that have built-in support for network storage, the Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station is fast. However, it's way slower than most new full-size NAS servers we've reviewed recently.

We tested the Iomega via its Gigabit connection with a few USB external hard drives, including the currently fastest USB external hard drive, the Seagate BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 and its scores were 84.7Mbps for the Write test and 217.5Mbps for the Read test. For comparison, the LaCie NetworkSpace 2, one of the slowest new NAS servers got 146Mbps and 280.6Mbps for the Read and Write tests, respectively. Other NAS high-end NAS servers, such as the Synology DS710+, are even significantly faster than that. It's worth noting, however, at these speeds, the iConnect will still work well in situations where no heavy file sharing is required.

When we switched to use the NAS with its wireless connection, the server, as expected, scored much lower with only 29.9Mbps for the Write speed and 27.9Mbps for the Read speed. It's obvious that you should only use its Gigabit connection if you want to use the device as a real network storage server.

Overall, despite the relatively low scores, we found that the iConnect NAS server worked well for the niche it is in. Considering the price, we were happy with its performance.

CNET Labs NAS Performance Scores (Via wired Gigabit Ethernet connection, unless noted otherwise)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Read  
Write  
Apple Time Capsule
204.7 
200.4 
Lacie NetworkSpace2
280.6 
146.8 
WD My Book World Edition
206.6 
120.1 
My Book World Edition
206.6 
120.1 
QNAP TS109 Pro
152.4 
101.4 
Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station
217.5 
84.7 
Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station (Wireless)
27.9 
29.9 

Service and support
The Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station is backed with a three-year warranty, which is much longer than most NAS servers on the market. Toll-free phone support is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. You can also chat online with tech support via omega's site or fill out an e-mail form. Iomega's site has a user forum, FAQs, how-to videos, and downloadable manuals, firmware, and software.

6.9

Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station

Score Breakdown

Setup 8Features 7Performance 6Support 7