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Linksys emphasises the media-sharing capabilities of its Media Hub 405 NAS. A program installed on each of your networked PCs automatically copies media files to the Media Hub; you can specify which folders it copies and when it looks for new files. Users can browse files using Windows Explorer or a Flash program that runs in your web browser. The Flash browser recognises ID3 tags and EXIF data, which makes browsing your music and photos easy. It can even play music and videos if you have the right browser plug-ins installed, although it can’t play DRM-protected songs, and some videos play only if you have an outdated version of the VLC plug-in. You’re better off enjoying your media using a UPnP network media player or program, although iTunes didn’t recognise the Media Hub. The program’s Home screen shows recently added files, and you can search for files by keyword. Bizarrely, there are no security controls of any kind, so anyone connected to your network can access your files. You can also upload and download files to and from the Media Hub using the Flash program from any internet-connected computer, although it can feel sluggish over slower internet connections. A free one-year subscription to this remote access service is included, after which it costs $10 (around £7) a year. Annoyingly, some controls, such as uploading multiple files or creating music playlists, only work in Internet Explorer. A front-mounted memory card reader and controls allow you to back up your photos without using a PC, although it’s slower than using a computer. A tool-free, pop-open door makes adding another internal hard disk quick and easy. Whether configured with a single disk or as RAID 0 or 1 array, the Media Hub performed reasonably well in our benchmarks, coming mid-table. You can also connect USB disks, but there’s no print server built in.
The Media Hub’s media features are slick and useful. However, we can’t recommend this NAS until Lynksys smooths out the rough edges and drops the price.
