How to Connect to a network drive?

Hi.

We're new to the Playbook family. Is there a way to be able to connect a playbook via WIFI to a standalone network drive sitting on the same network or am I only able to do that through a wired connection to a Windows or Mac machine sitting on the network?

Thanks in advance!

:confused:

At this time you cannot connect a PlayBook to a network drive. However as you mentioned can use the PLayBook as a network drive and simply copy your data to and from it. Take a look at this and see if it helps:

Wi-Fi Sharing

Complete the following steps to share files over a Wi-Fi® connection:

1. From the BlackBerry PlayBook home screen, select the settings icon.
2. Select Storage and Sharing.
3. Toggle Wi-Fi Sharing to ON.
4. Tap Properties to verify network identification information. (PlayBook name, password etc)
5. From a Windows® or Mac based computer on the same network as the BlackBerry PlayBook, navigate to the IP address of the BlackBerry PlayBook which can be found under Settings >About > Network.
   1. On a Windows computer, open the Run dialog box and type file://127.1.1.1 (where 127.1.1.1 should be replaced with the actual IP address of the BlackBerry PlayBook)
   2. On a Mac computer, select Go -> Connect to Server... and type smb://127.1.1.1 (where 127.1.1.1 should be replaced with the actual IP address of the BlackBerry PlayBook)
6. When connecting to the media folder which contains several sub-folders such as documents,music, photos, videos, etc, the BlackBerry PlayBook user can then move files between the computer and these folders.

File Sharing with a Mac via USB connection

To share files between a Mac and the BlackBerry PlayBook, BlackBerry® Device Manager will need to be installed.

Complete the following steps to install BlackBerry Device Manager:

1. Connect the BlackBerry PlayBook to the Mac.
2. On the desktop or within Finder, double click BlackBerry PlayBook CD.
3. Double click the BlackBerry Device Manager Installer to start the installation process.
4. After reviewing the Read Me and License Agreement click Continue Installation.
5. Reboot the computer when prompted.
6. After the reboot is complete and the BlackBerry PlayBook is started, a message may be presented stating that a new network interface has been detected. If this is the case, click onNetwork Preferences and click Apply.
7. After the PlayBook has been setup in Network Preferences, the PlayBook share will appear on the desktop whenever the PlayBook is connected to the computer.
8. Click the Playbook icon on the desktop to display the PlayBook share. Files can now be transferred to and from the BlackBery PlayBook.
   
   Note: If error message You can't install the 'Network' preferences pane because it is already installed. See the additional notes for further steps.

BlackBerry® Device Manager is also included within the BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac. To download, please visit www.blackberry.com/mac.File Sharing with a Windows® PC via USB connection

To share files between a Windows based PC and the BlackBerry PlayBook, BlackBerry® Device Manager will need to be installed. Complete the following steps to install BlackBerry Device Manager:

1. Connect the BlackBerry PlayBook to the computer via USB cable.
2. If BlackBerry Device Manager is not yet installed, the BlackBerry PlayBook will display a screen entitled Installing Drivers.
3. On the computer, double click the BlackBerry PlayBook CD drive icon.
4. Open the Drivers folder.
5. Double click Setup.exe.
6. After selecting the appropriate region and accepting the License Agreement select Install.
7. Select Finish and then OK to the prompt confirming that the PlayBook will need to be disconnected and then reconnected prior to use.
8. Once reconnected to the computer, the BlackBerry PlayBook will be mounted as a Network Drive labelled PlayBook [PIN: 500AAAAA].
9. Double click the network drive icon to access the PlayBook folders.

Thank you for the response. I understand what you've presented but that's what I was trying to avoid. :)

Perhaps this is a suggestion for a future enhancement that RIM could consider ...

Thanks again.