Transfer Files from Android Phone to NAS — SMB, FTP, WebDAV Guide

Transfer Files from Android to NAS — Connect Your Phone to Home Storage

A NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a dedicated home server — essentially a hard drive rack with a network port. It's where photos, videos, backups, and media libraries live for home and small business users. Android phones don't come with a file manager that connects to NAS devices out of the box, but AnExplorer does.

AnExplorer supports SMB (Windows file sharing), FTP/FTPS, and WebDAV — the three protocols every major NAS brand supports. Connect once, save the connection, and your NAS appears as a persistent drive in AnExplorer's sidebar.

NAS Brand Compatibility

Method 1: SMB — Best for Regular Use

SMB (Server Message Block) is the standard Windows file sharing protocol and the fastest method for home NAS access. It appears as a persistent drive in AnExplorer and survives app restarts.

Enable SMB on Your NAS

Synology DiskStation:

1. Open DSM web interface → Control Panel
2. Go to File Services → SMB
3. Enable SMB service → click Apply
4. Note the SMB path: \\NAS-NAME or \\192.168.x.x
5. Create a shared folder if you haven't already: Control Panel → Shared Folders

QNAP:

1. Open QNAP admin interface → Control Panel
2. Network & File Services → Win/Mac/NFS/WebDAV
3. Enable Samba (Windows File Sharing) → Apply

WD My Cloud: SMB is enabled by default. Just find the IP address from your router's device list or the WD My Cloud dashboard app.

Connect AnExplorer to NAS via SMB

1. Open AnExplorer on your Android phone
2. In the left sidebar, tap Network → Add Network Storage
3. Select SMB / Windows Share
4. Enter the NAS IP address: 192.168.1.x (find this in your router's connected devices)
5. Enter your NAS username and password (the account you use for DSM/QNAP admin)
6. Select the shared folder from the dropdown, or type it manually
7. Tap Connect → the share appears in AnExplorer's sidebar

Save the connection: AnExplorer saves the connection permanently — next time you open the app on your home Wi-Fi, the NAS is instantly accessible without re-entering credentials.

Copy Files to NAS

1. Open Internal Storage in AnExplorer
2. Navigate to photos, videos, or documents
3. Long-press to select files (or tap a folder to select everything)
4. Tap Copy from the toolbar
5. In the sidebar, tap your NAS share
6. Navigate to the destination folder on the NAS
7. Tap Paste — files transfer at LAN speed (typically 40–100 MB/s over 5 GHz Wi-Fi)

Method 2: FTP — Precise Control, Works Everywhere

FTP works when SMB is blocked (e.g., on some routers with SMB disabled for security), and it's the most universal protocol — every NAS supports FTP.

Enable FTP on Your NAS

Synology: Control Panel → File Services → FTP → Enable FTP service QNAP: Control Panel → Network & File Services → FTPWD My Cloud: Settings → Network → FTP → Enable

Connect AnExplorer via FTP

1. AnExplorer → Network → Add FTP Connection
2. Fill in:
   • Host: Your NAS IP (e.g., 192.168.1.100)
   • Port: 21 (standard FTP) or 990 (FTPS)
   • Username / Password: your NAS credentials
3. Tap Connect → NAS files appear in AnExplorer

For FTPS (secure FTP with TLS), select FTPS as the protocol — your NAS must have FTPS enabled (Synology DSM supports this under FTP → FTPS settings).

Method 3: WebDAV — Best for Remote (Over Internet) Access

WebDAV works the same as SMB or FTP for local network use, but it also works when you're away from home — connecting over the internet to your NAS if you've set up port forwarding or use a VPN.

Enable WebDAV on Your NAS

Synology: Package Center → install WebDAV Server → open it → enable HTTP (5005) or HTTPS (5006) QNAP: Control Panel → Network & File Services → WebDAV

Connect AnExplorer via WebDAV

1. AnExplorer → Network → Add WebDAV Connection
2. Enter:
   • URL: http://192.168.1.100:5005 (local) or https://yournas.synology.me:5006 (remote with DDNS)
   • Username / Password: NAS credentials
3. Connect — the NAS file system appears

Auto-Backup Phone Photos to NAS

Instead of manually copying, you can set up automatic photo backup from your phone to the NAS:

Synology Photos (recommended for Synology):

• Install the Synology Photos package on your NAS
• Install the Synology Photos app on your Android phone
• It auto-syncs your camera roll to the NAS over LAN or internet

Manual with AnExplorer (all NAS brands):

• Set AnExplorer's SMB connection to the NAS as a permanent mount
• Periodically select /DCIM/Camera on your phone → Copy → Paste to NAS photos folder
• For automation, use Automate (Android app) or Tasker to trigger AnExplorer file operations on schedule

Transfer Large Files — Speed and Tips

Over a 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection to a NAS via SMB or FTP, expect:

• 40–80 MB/s for most home NAS devices (depends on NAS drive speed and Wi-Fi)
• A 50 GB photo library takes roughly 10–20 minutes
• 4K video files (4–20 GB each) copy in 1–5 minutes

Tips for large transfers:

• Keep your phone screen on and plugged in — battery saver modes can throttle network activity
• Use FTP for very large batch transfers — it has lower overhead than SMB for pure throughput
• Run transfers when your home network is idle (not streaming 4K video simultaneously)
• Use Gigabit Ethernet on the NAS side — the bottleneck is usually the NAS disk speed or the phone's Wi-Fi, not the NAS's network port

Access NAS from Anywhere (Remote Access)

For accessing your NAS files from outside home (e.g., at work, on mobile data):

Option 1: VPN

1. Set up VPN on your router or NAS (Synology has built-in OpenVPN server; QNAP has QVPN)
2. Connect to home VPN from Android using OpenVPN for Android or WireGuard
3. Once connected, your phone is on your home network — open AnExplorer and connect to NAS normally

Option 2: NAS DDNS URL with WebDAV HTTPS

1. Enable DDNS in your NAS (Synology: Control Panel → External Access → DDNS)
2. Use a hostname like yourname.synology.me
3. Enable WebDAV HTTPS on port 5006
4. In AnExplorer, add WebDAV connection: https://yourname.synology.me:5006
5. Access from anywhere with internet

Troubleshooting

"SMB connection failed" or "Network error"

1. Verify the NAS IP address — check your router's connected device list for the most current IP
2. Confirm SMB is enabled on the NAS (common mistake: SMB disabled or SMB1 enforced on an older NAS)
3. Check if your Android device and NAS are on the same network segment (not a guest network vs main network)
4. Try FTP as an alternative — if FTP works but SMB doesn't, it's the SMB configuration

Files transfer slowly (under 5 MB/s)

1. Check Wi-Fi band — 2.4 GHz tops out at ~50 Mbps (6 MB/s); 5 GHz can reach 500+ Mbps
2. Check NAS disk type — WD Red HDDs write at ~80–120 MB/s max; SSDs are faster
3. FTP usually outperforms SMB for pure file transfer throughput — try FTP if SMB is slow

NAS doesn't show available shares

1. After entering the NAS IP in SMB settings, wait a moment for AnExplorer to query available shares
2. If shares don't load, enter the share name manually (e.g., homes, photo, video)
3. Ensure your NAS account has permission to access the share (check share permissions in DSM/QNAP admin panel)

Related Guides

• FTP on Android — Full Setup Guide — detailed FTP server and client setup
• SMB Network Share on Android — complete SMB configuration guide
• WebDAV on Android — WebDAV connect and remote access setup
• Transfer Android to PC — direct PC browser access