LaCie Wuala review

If you upload lots of files to Wuala, you can set a limit as to how much of them are automatically cached onto your hard disk so they can still be accessed even if you don’t have an internet connection. You can also throttle the speed of uploads if you need to use your internet connection for other tasks.

The program can also be used to share stored files with friends and colleagues, avoiding the need for large email attachments clogging up email servers and inboxes. You can simply email them a link as needed, or import contacts from your email or Facebook contact lists and set which files and folders they can access. Sadly, non-Wuala members are stuck with a crude web page that can’t download folders with a single click – the files inside have to be downloaded one-by-one.

Unfortunately the Wuala software is in beta, a fact that isn’t pointed out when you sign up. The application is slightly buggy. On a residential ADSL connection, there were often inexplicable delays before uploads started. When attempting to access files in the Shopper offices, we often had trouble accessing the service at all due to our company firewall – a problem not experienced with other online storage services.

We wanted to like Wuala, but it’s let down by the lack of a web interface for your backups and the unnecessary distinction between backing up and synchronisation. We’d rather use the simpler Dropbox for general-purpose online storage and Livedrive for backup.