FTP server on a router?

[tapper]

Hi is there a write up of the best way to run a ftp server on Gargoyle. What i wood like to do is plug in a USB HDD and share some audio books with a friend over the internet How safe is it?
How much bandwidth wood it take up.
Can you setup passwords for more than one user?
Will it slow my router down?
Thanks

[nworbnhoj]

How safe is it?

Unknown, but I would not choose to do this. To my way of thinking, a firewall needs to be as simple as possible to reduce the attack surface. Opening FTP to the WAN side is just one more possible entry point.

How much bandwidth wood it take up.

Depends how many friends you have The bandwidth will likely be tiny.

Can you setup passwords for more than one user?

Yes - and definitely use strong passwords.

Will it slow my router down?

Doubt it.

[tapper]

So i have plugged in a 256 M USB drive to test with. Now my USB Storage page looks like this.

Gargoyle
Router
Management
Utility
Device Name: Tapper'sAP
Shared Disks
  Allow Access to FTP From WAN
CIFS Workgroup:
WORKGROUP
CIFS / FTP Users:
New User:

Password:

Confirm Password:

Add User
No Share Users Defined
Add Shared Disk / Directory:
Disk:
(/dev/sda1, Ext4, 172.965MB)
Subdirectory:
/
Share Name:
share_1
Settings Apply To:
Only This Specific Drive
Share Type(s):
CIFS  FTP  NFS
CIFS/FTP Anonymous Access:
None
CIFS/FTP Users With Access:
Read Only Add
NFS Access:
Read Only
NFS Access Policy:
Allow Anonymous Access
FTP Path:
ftp://192.168.1.1/share_1
NFS Path:
192.168.1.1:/nfs/share_1
Add Shared Disk
Currently Shared Disks:
Save Changes Reset
Unmount
Unmount All USB Disks
USB Disks should be unmounted before removal from the router. USB Disks still connected will be automatically remounted after next router reboot.
Format Disk
No attached, unmounted drives detected.
You must unmount drives before attempting to format them.
Status
Connection
Firewall
System
Router Access
Identification
Time
Services
System Logs
Plugins
Webshell
USB Storage
USB Printer
Backup / Restore
Update Firmware
Reboot
About
Logout

I want to make a user called tapper and test as the pass rite? If i tick the box for Allow Access to FTP From WAN
how do i find out the adress of my FTP server? do i need to use CIFS or ftp? what is NFS?
Can i use SFTP? It is said to be safer.
Sorry about all the questions.

[tapper]

Ok i now have a FTP server on my router my page looks like this

Device Name: Tapper'sAP
Shared Disks
  Allow Access to FTP From WAN
CIFS Workgroup:
WORKGROUP
CIFS / FTP Users:
New User:

Password:

Confirm Password:

Add User
tapper
Edit
Remove
Add Shared Disk / Directory:
Disk:
(/dev/sda1, Ext4, 172.965MB)
Subdirectory:
/
Share Name:
share_2
Settings Apply To:
Only This Specific Drive
Share Type(s):
CIFS  FTP  NFS
CIFS/FTP Anonymous Access:
None
CIFS/FTP Users With Access:
tapper Read Only Add
NFS Access:
Read Only
NFS Access Policy:
Allow Anonymous Access
FTP Path:
ftp://192.168.1.1/share_2
NFS Path:
192.168.1.1:/nfs/share_2
Add Shared Disk
Currently Shared Disks:
Name
Disk
Subdirectory
Share Type(s)
tapper
/dev/sda1
/
FTP
Edit
Remove
Save Changes Reset

I can get in to the folder using FTP with winSCP. How wood i get in from the wan side?

[Lantis]

you need to know your external ip address.

use something like https://www.whatismyip.com/

if that is no good for your screen reader simply google search "what is my ip address" and google should automatically give you the answer.

[nworbnhoj]

do i need to use CIFS or ftp? what is NFS? Can i use SFTP? It is said to be safer.

I would stay with just FTP (more general) and ignore CIFS & NFS. Yes SFTP is much better, but not currently an option.

[tapper]

Thanks for your help think I have this nailed now!

Just need wate till my friend wakes up and test it but seems to be good.

[Lantis]

Cool

If it does work and your ISP gives you a dynamic IP address you could use dynamic DNS in gargoyle to keep track of the ip and then access it using something like ftp://tapper.dyndns.com or something