basic questions- please help!

[brianlg]

Excuse my lack of knowledge.

I am trying to set up storage for my household, mainly for music and a large sized collection (~1TB in total with all files). I currently have all of this data on an external WD hard drive.
I've tried plugging this external hd into my router via USB, but accessing the files from my macbook pro is awfully slow.

I have been considering buying a NAS set up, but just started reading about FreeNAS.

My household :
* WD USB External 2TB Hard Drive
- 2013 Macbook Pro running OS X Mav
- Samsung Desktop running Windows 8
- iPad
- iPhone
- Windows Phone


1. Can I install FreeNAS with my current set up? Do I install it onto my external hard drive?
2. Will this make accessing my files faster over wifi?
3. Please give me any guidance in setting up storage to access wirelessly, that isn't painfully slow.

 

[Yatti420]

I would build another box dedicated for FreeNAS and migrate the data.. Wifi has it's own issues.. If it's slow.. get better wifi equipment.. You would want the nas wired into your router..

 

[brianlg]

Thanks. My WiFi is relatively quick 10mbs with boost. I'll look at your recommended hardware list to install onto

 

[pirateghost]

Thanks. My WiFi is relatively quick 10mbs with boost. I'll look at your recommended hardware list to install onto

If you think 10mb/s is fast then you have some network issues to resolve.

Sent from my Nexus 5