Connect Android to Your NAS with AnExplorer

A NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a dedicated drive on your home network that stores files accessible from any device. AnExplorer connects to all major NAS brands using SMB, FTP, SFTP, and WebDAV — giving you full file access from your phone.

Once connected, your NAS appears as a bookmark in AnExplorer alongside your local phone storage. You can copy photos from your phone directly to the NAS, stream videos, manage backups, and access files your household computers share.

Supported NAS Brands

Synology NAS Setup

Enable SMB on Synology

1. Log in to Synology DSM
2. Go to Control Panel > File Services > SMB
3. Check "Enable SMB service"
4. Minimum SMB protocol: set to SMB2 (don't use SMB1 for security reasons)
5. Go to Control Panel > Shared Folder — verify your folder exists and your DSM user has read/write access

Connect from AnExplorer

1. In AnExplorer, tap + > SMB / LAN
2. Host: Synology's IP (find in Synology DSM > Control Panel > Network > Network Interface)
3. Username: your DSM username
4. Password: your DSM password
5. Tap Connect — select the shared folder you want to browse

Enable FTP on Synology (Alternative)

1. DSM > Control Panel > File Services > FTP
2. Check "Enable FTP service", optionally enable FTPS for encrypted transfers
3. In AnExplorer, tap + > FTP, enter the same IP and DSM credentials

QNAP NAS Setup

1. QNAP QTS > Main Menu > Control Panel > Network & File Services > Win/Mac/NFS > Microsoft Networking
2. Enable "Enable Samba service"
3. Create a share: File Station > right-click folder > Share Folder
4. Set permission for your QNAP user
5. In AnExplorer: + > SMB / LAN, enter QNAP IP and login

For FTP on QNAP: Control Panel > Network & File Services > FTP > Enable FTP service

Western Digital My Cloud Setup

WD My Cloud NAS has SMB enabled by default. No configuration needed on the NAS side:

1. Find your NAS on the network:
   • Open any browser on your PC and go to wdmycloud.local or check your router's DHCP table for the WD device IP
2. In AnExplorer: + > SMB / LAN
3. Host: WD IP (e.g., 192.168.1.120)
4. Username: admin or your My Cloud account
5. Password: your My Cloud admin password

Note: WD My Cloud Home (the newer consumer model) has a more restricted architecture. If SMB doesn't work, try using the WD My Cloud mobile app for basic access, or configure the NAS to allow SMB over LAN via the web dashboard.

TrueNAS Setup

TrueNAS (formerly FreeNAS) supports SMB, FTP, and SFTP:

SMB on TrueNAS

1. TrueNAS web UI > Shares > Windows Shares (SMB) > Add
2. Name the share, select a dataset path
3. System > Services > SMB > Start + Set to Autostart
4. Connect from AnExplorer: IP, your TrueNAS user credentials

SFTP on TrueNAS

TrueNAS runs SSH by default. Access via AnExplorer SFTP:

1. System > Services > SSH > Start
2. In AnExplorer: + > SFTP, TrueNAS IP, port 22, your TrueNAS username/password

Find Your NAS IP Address

• Router admin panel: Log in to your router (usually 192.168.1.1) > look at DHCP clients or connected devices list
• Synology: DSM > Control Panel > Network
• QNAP: QTS > Control Panel > Network & Virtual Switch
• Windows PC on same network: ping synology.local or ping qnap.local in Command Prompt (use your device hostname)

Auto-Backup Phone to NAS

Once your NAS is connected in AnExplorer, you can manually copy your phone's DCIM folder to the NAS. For a more automated approach:

1. Connect to NAS in AnExplorer
2. Navigate to /sdcard/DCIM/Camera/ on your phone
3. Select all photos (long-press + select all)
4. Copy > navigate to NAS backup folder > Paste
5. Bookmark the NAS destination folder for future backups

Or use Synology's DS Photo app or QNAP's Qsync for fully automatic camera uploads. AnExplorer is the manual management layer on top of those workflows.

Transfer Speed Expectations

1,000 photos (average 5MB each = 5GB) typically takes 1–2 minutes over good Wi-Fi 5 to an SMB share.

Troubleshooting NAS Connections

Can't find NAS on network:

• Confirm phone and NAS are on the same Wi-Fi (not different VLANs)
• Try IP address directly instead of hostname
• Some routers block device-to-device access by default

"Incorrect password" on Synology:

• Verify the DSM user has permissions on the specific shared folder
• Check if DSM 2-factor authentication might be interfering — try creating a separate low-privilege user for file access

Connection drops mid-transfer:

• Android may suspend Wi-Fi when the screen is off — keep screen on during large transfers
• Check NAS idle timeout settings and set them longer

Related Guides

• SMB / LAN shares on Android
• FTP client on Android
• SFTP for secure remote access
• Transfer phone to NAS

Install

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