EE SH35A Router - no USB support? Recommended NAS?

Appreciate the reply ​@Stanley_4 but as a technophobe that’s the last thing she would want...and that’s coming from a guy who has 8 of ‘em! 🤣

It was all I could do to talk her into the Move in the first place (What I need an app? Forget it!) and it took all year to convince her a smart light bulb in the bedroom would be better than getting out of bed to turn the light off…

Anyway on further research it seems the USB port on that particular router has been disabled so all it can be used for is power and Engineer diagnosis apparently.

And I’m pretty certain she wouldn’t want to change the router.

Thanks & kind regards,

-=Glyn=-

I’ve just stumbled across a couple of Lantronix Ubox 2100 Ethernet->USB devices and probably still have an old laptop somewhere with the control software on it so wondering whether I might press-gang one of these into use by plugging it into one of the routers ethernet ports and plugging the USB drive into one of the Ubox ports?

Mind you it is 2026 now...🤣

The more I looked at dedicated NAS devices the less I liked them. Too big, too much power, too noisy and the killer too much maintenance.

A Pi, Zero once initially set up (Samba and Wi-Fi) is zero maintenance (since it is only on the LAN you can even ignore updates) and is just the small Pi case and a power brick to hide away.

Might end up simpler and more stable than the USB connector but that sounds interesting too.

If you reconsider, or for others the Pi is a tempting solution for adding a music library.

Pi, case, power brick, mini SD card. Set it up, tuck it out of sight and ignore it, mine has gone untouched for a couple years.

https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-2-w/

I’ve been using NAS drives. A disadvantage of NAS drives is that they will usually spin down during idle periods. The spin-up time frustrates starting music play if SONOS times out while waiting for the drive. Of course this will not be an issue if the NAS is in regular use or set to never spin down.

If I recall correctly, my no longer supported WD NAS has a power setting that allows the drives to not spin down. Been a long time since I’ve logged in it…I really need to set up that Synology I bought to replace it before it too becomes unsupported.

Thankfully, Sonos hasn’t retired any of their speakers, even the first ones they sold are still supported by S1.

Music libraries are so small solid-state drives are a good option, no noise, heat or spin time.

A USB to SATA adapter and a scrapbox SSD works great. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HJZJI84 

Maybe a USB SATA case for a couple bucks more

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Tool-free-Enclosure-Optimized-EC-UASP/dp/B00OJ3UJ2S?th=1

Or if you nave have a scrap M.2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RVC6F9Y/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3

😂😂😂

No offense intended; but your friend appears to be the perfect example of the modern day “Luddite” (a person who opposes new technology, automation, or computerization).

Jokes aside, if using the Sonos app a path still has to be created for a  “Music Library”. The problem in the future (for you and your friend) could be the path being corrupted by accident or via an update to the app and/or router. Also, your friend would have to access the music library as another streaming source.

A probable path would be to curate a several Playlists within Amazon Music of the songs you have assuming they are in the Amazon Music Catalog. It is a daunting task and would take a lot of your time but once done it’s virtually maintenance free.

In the end the path of least “frustration/headache” and cost effectiveness may be to help your friend (or you yourself) purchase a router with a USB port for a drive.

That "within Amazon" is important, lists and favorites of Amazon music saved on the Sonos system go missing every time Amazon tweaks something.

OK… that’s where I’m confused when you say “lists and favorites of Amazon music saved on the Sonos system go missing every time Amazon tweaks something”. The key phrase (words) being “Saved on the Sonos system”

Apple is my main server for Playlists that I create within Apple Music on my Mac. Those playlists are stored on the Apple Server (iTunes) for playback as well as downloaded to my phone for BT playback. When I access my playlists in the Sonos app I’m going thru the Apple Music service streaming via the Apple server. At least that is my understanding. 

So are you saying that Playlists created using Amazon Music are stored locally and not on Amazon servers; or that most of the tweaks that Amazon performs are volatile with a negative impact on curated playlists?

Lists created using the Amazon Music App are stored on Amazon. I have very little experience with these other than adding them as Sonos Favorites, but they never seem to  break when accessed from the AmazonApp. 

Lists of Amazon Music tracks, stations and playlists saved using the Sonos App are stored by Sonos. The link that Sonos has saved, pointing to an Amazon "thing" are often broken by changes at Amazon. As an example about a third of the Amazon Stations I have saved as Sonos Favorites won't play. Doing a search for the Station and adding it back as a Sonos Favorite gives two, identical Favorites, one that works and one that doesn't.