Freecom Network Drive XS 500GB review

There’s no USB host socket for plugging in a USB disk or printer so these peripherals can’t be shared with other users on your network. There is a download manager for downloading files from the web or BitTorrent without the use of a computer. Unfortunately, the download management interface can only be accessed from the main password-protected administration interface. This might be attractive if you want to prevent the kids from pirating films, but a hindrance if you want to give more responsible users access but don’t want them accidentally changing the other settings.

The web administration interface is logically organised so it’s quick and easy to find the options you want. There’s no way to organise users into groups for easier management, but this won’t be missed on most small, home networks.

Another annoying limitation is that it’s only possible to create shared folders when creating a user account, which can only then be accessed by that user. The only workaround is to create a dummy ‘public’ account with no password. You’ll need to do this if you want to attempt using the XS as a media server or download station – there’s little point in storing files that are meant to be shared with everyone on your network in a user’s password-protected folder.

The XS appears keenly priced at £84, but with just 500GB capacity, this is works out as a fairly pricey 17p per gigabyte. Combined with its poor performance and other odd limitations, we can’t recommend the XS even if you’re on the tightest of budgets – buying would be a false economy.