Last I looked, I was getting about 1GB/minute. If I had a huge mount of data (many GBs) I would kick it off using the Android phone app and just let it go. Key thing with this transfer is to use their app - if you use a 3rd party app like FileBrowser it appeared that the copy went SD Card -> iPad -> HDD as opposed to the faster direct transfer that the supplied app used.
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Differences Between RAVPower FileHub Plus and WD My Passport WiFi Drive
- Thread starter kgphotos
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Last I looked, I was getting about 1GB/minute. If I had a huge mount of data (many GBs) I would kick it off using the Android phone app and just let it go. Key thing with this transfer is to use their app - if you use a 3rd party app like FileBrowser it appeared that the copy went SD Card -> iPad -> HDD as opposed to the faster direct transfer that the supplied app used.
Thanks! I am actually hoping to use this with Android devices. I have been searching the net for a Real World experience with the SD Reader to SSD transfer rate from within the Ravpower Filehub Plus. I figured an HDD environment would at least give me an idea. My expectation is to be transferring up to 30 gbs per day on a trip to Scandinavia this September. I
Similar use case - I used mine on a 3-week trip to the Galapagos Islands where I was on a boat and didn't want to take my laptop. I shot a lot of RAW images and video (Canon DSLR & GoPro) and would copy them at night to the HDD, using my Samsung smartphone as the controller. Just launch it and let it go.
One problem I had was that that I wanted to use my iPad to review the images but doing that over the RAVPower WiFi was slow (each file being > 20MB). What I've done is switched my camera storage from an SD card to a uSD card in an SD adapter. The RAVPOWER still works with that but it also allows me to use this uSD card reader to review (and cull) the large RAW images with my iPad Pro without copying them to the iPad --
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/review-smartq-c620-mfi-lightning-microsd-card-reader.2100810/
This has worked great for me. Working with external storage and iOS is never straightforward and continually requires workarounds and compromises.
When you transfer from SD card straight to HDD, does the ravpower use wifi for that? Also just wondering if you knew how fast the transfer speed from sd to hdd is?
The SD card is in a slot and the HDD is connected to a USB port and the transfer is not wireless. Speed I've seen is about 1 GB/minute.
I used the Ravpower Filehub plus on my last trip. Transferred 64GB and 128GB cards on a daily basis from an A6500 and A7R2.
While the device was cheap and convenient, it was not perfect. File transfers failed a few times, so I had to double and triple check that they went through. File transfer speeds also left a lot to be desired. I'd leave it on with one of our iPads, hidden in luggage, and go out for the day. I think generally the cards took between 1 and 3 hours to copy when full, but I never timed it properly.
To be honest I found the failed transfers a bit annoying, but I experienced the same issues with the first generation WD wireless passport. I'm still looking for an ultra reliable device that can do this.
Loved how you could create a WiFi network and stream videos (mkv etc.) To VLC player. Even to more than one device at a time. Overall, a decent option, especially given the CAD$55 that I paid.
While the device was cheap and convenient, it was not perfect. File transfers failed a few times, so I had to double and triple check that they went through. File transfer speeds also left a lot to be desired. I'd leave it on with one of our iPads, hidden in luggage, and go out for the day. I think generally the cards took between 1 and 3 hours to copy when full, but I never timed it properly.
To be honest I found the failed transfers a bit annoying, but I experienced the same issues with the first generation WD wireless passport. I'm still looking for an ultra reliable device that can do this.
Loved how you could create a WiFi network and stream videos (mkv etc.) To VLC player. Even to more than one device at a time. Overall, a decent option, especially given the CAD$55 that I paid.
Interesting. I've had all of the RAVPower series from the WD01 to the current WD03 and transferred thousands of shots without failures. Were your transfers from the card to the iPad - wireless - or from the card to a connected USB device? That's what I do and see about 1GB/minute and no failures. I recently used it on a 3-week trip to the Galapagos and transferred a huge number of RAW images and DSLR & GoPro videos without an issue.
I just got a WD07. I shoot with a Nikon D750 in RAW. When I try to load the photos on my iPad while connected to the WD07, it will only allow me to view small thumbnails. Is there any way to download and view the files in full resolution on an iPad?
Thanks.
Thanks.
I am not using a workflow. I do not get to that point.
I connect the WD07 to my iPad via wifi.
I open either the Filehub Plus or RAV Filehub app.
I open the app, select Files/Folder, open the folder with my photos, Select a few NEF files
Choose copy to, choose internal device, I get two options. iPad Photos or Documents.
I choose iPad photos and get a message that iOS only supports copying JPG, JPEG, PNG,, MP4 and MOV files to the camera roll.
If I choose documents folder, I can copy the files there, but from the Files app I am not able to access them. I have tried all night, a bunch of ways and can't get it. I even logged onto the device using the IP address and access file list from safari and when clicking on a file, and asked why to do with it, I try to open directly in Lightroom, no go, I try to save to a folder in Files, when I access from Files app, its a small thumbnail and I cannot open in Lightroom or anything.
The reason I bought this, was to be able to view photos why doing photoshoots. I photograph concerts. I have a D750 with wifi and the Nikon app is horrible. It works but the app does not have an iPad version and was looking for something a bit more robust than the wifi in my camera. The WD07 seems to transfer the files at a fast enough speed for what I would want, at least I think, but don't know since I cannot get any file to view more than a blurry photo.
I was going to get the WD wireless drive with SD reader but this was cheaper, would technically do what I wanted, and at a cheaper price. but not so much.
I see the WD app will allow you to import multiple RAW files into Lightroom. So maybe I will be returning this and getting the WD drive.
Thanks.
Actually, it was the copy workflow you described that I was asking for. Let me try the same things with my gear and I'll report back.
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I went back and looked at this with my Canon RAW files on an SD card in the FileHub. Up front, I don't care for the FileHub app and use other file managers to work with the attached storage. With FileExplorer Pro, I can make an SMB connection to the FileHub and access the attached storage directly. I can go to the DCIM folder, select the RAW image files with an Edit -> "Select All" and then select to do a copy to Camera Roll. From Camera Roll, I can then use Lightroom CC to process. Or I can just view the RAW images directly from FileExplorer. There are a lot more options with a file manager app.
Thank you. Sorry for the confusion when you asked workflow. I was tired, starting to get a migraine and getting frustrated with trying to access my photos. I have read reviews that the FileHub app was not great. It has promise if they put more work into it. I did download an app after I posted this which allowed me to access my photos but when I tried to copy them, with how I connected it said copying was restricted by copyright. I will buy the app you use and configure it. I had a feeling there had to be an app out there that could do it. It’s silly RAVPower sells a wireless as card device but does not give a way to transfer raw files.
Also the usb connection. Plugged a ssd drive and tried to back up about 25gb of pictures, about 30 min later was only at 60%. The WD07 has a usb-c connection that is for charging and fast data transfer but does not recognize my external drive. So I need to figure that out.
Thanks again.
I thought the USB-C was only for charging, no data. As for transfer speeds, see this review I made -
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-ravpower-filehub-model-review.2128117/
I returned the WD07 as I found it inferior to the older WD03 model I've been using (a lot) for the last couple of years. Maybe they'll improve it with firmware updates. And yes, their apps are pretty poor so I try to use apps like FileExplorer and FileBrowser to the extent possible. Unfortunately, there aren't any other good devices out there supporting the range of functionality that the FileHub has (I've tried them). I really like the freedom to use different storage devices with it. So while I may complain, I find it to be incredibly useful.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-ravpower-filehub-model-review.2128117/
If you plug In a USB-C cable into the device and then in your computer, the computer will see the SD card as if you have it plugged into a standard reader to transfer files. I have not tested the speed of that compared to the USB-A port, will need to.
Have you tried the Kingston Mobile lite? They have a 3G for about $25, and a pro with built in 64GB of storage for $99.
I just got home and going to play around with it and see if I can get it to transfer files properly. I think its a great design and it does have some really nice features, so for the price, I think its a good value, just wish they would put more work in the apps.
Thanks again.
Yeah, the 3G is in a drawer, gathering dust. Works poorly and is slow. Also have some HooToo devices, no better. The FileHub has been the best for removable storage. Also tried Seagate wireless drives. I’m a retired S/W Syetms Engineer ...
Any better WiFi drive options out there now or is ravpower with an external still the way to go? It’d be nice to have everything in one package and from the sounds of it you guys are doing a lot of tinkering to get this thing to work the way it should.
It actually works quite well for me - I don’t use it for RAW file transfers to the iPad but do use it to back up from SD cards to an HDD. It’s great for watching movies stored on an HDD. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it and I haven’t found a good alternative supporting removable storage (I use multiple drives with it).
Cool. My use case too. Watching movies. And also keeping offline access to my entire onedrive and iCloud folder. I’m getting into vlogging so would like to import videos from the drone into the iPad and then back up the edited version to the external. Will it work for all my needs?
What program do you use to stream movies? I’ve got close to 2000 and a nice front end like plex or kodi would be fab. Itll Be a pita to go through the list manually.
From what Sparksd has said, testing many of them, the RAVPower is the best. With his help I am happy with it. I find with my iPhone or iPad connected to it in 5G mode the data transfer speed is not great, but good. a 24MB file takes 2-3 seconds to download to my iOS device, maybe a little faster than that.
Yesterday I could not get the Filehub plus or RAV Filehub to succesfully download my raw files. I bought and installed the FileExplorer pro app, which works great, but during the process of finding the best way to get my files to download, what I did for the FE Pro app worke on the Filehub plus app and wanted to share.
Since the app will not allow you to save raw files to the camera roll on an IOS device, the key is finding a way to save the files as an go between. If you have an Adobe Creative cloud account. Download the creative cloud app on the iOS Device. Then go into the Files app on the iOS device and on the main screen that shows locations in the Files app, click on Edit and you should see creative cloud. This will allow you to download
Or from the Files Explorer Pro app, once you connect to the RAVPpower, you select the photos, click on copy and choose copy to local. You can create a new folder to copy the pictures into. From there, go back to the local location in the app you can click on camera roll to save them. Then if you to to LightRoom you can access and edit the raw files, or go to the Photos app.
Or you can go to Files app on your device, select the files and choose open in Lightroom or other apps.
There are a few ways I have had success in copying and editing the photos.
So at this point I am very happy with the RAVPower WP-07.
I guess internally these devices transfer at USB 2 speeds... we need something with USB 3+. I think software can be updated to fix the failed transfers I experienced once in a while.
For streaming, I just use nPlayer with the FileHub connected to it as an SMB device - nPlayer can see the attached HDD. It's pretty simple as I generally use it only on the road, taking along a 4TB WD My Passport drive with around 1300 movies on it.
Does that give you a front end like plex or kodi with artwork etc? Bit of a pain going through manually. I’d never know what to watch and end up watching rocky over and over again.
That’s one of the reasons I was considering the WD WiFi drive with the plex server but apparently it doesn’t work v well as a plex server. Must be a way or a program that sits on the iPad and you point it to a library on the external.
If you have the the FileHub bridged to an Internet connection, nPlayer does populate the metadata for each movie, including artwork. I'm using the $4.99 version of nPlayer - I prefer it over Infuse as it has more functionality for video adjustment, i.e. brightness, contrast, saturation. I have the movies on the HDD organized by genre in folders.