Buffalo LinkStation LS410D 2TB review

We had no trouble streaming music and video files stored on the LS410D to a network media player, but the iTunes server feature didn’t work with the latest Windows version of iTunes, which was 11.1.2 at the time of writing. You don’t need to use a computer to download BitTorrent files as the LS410D can do this for you, but unfortunately it can’t manage web or FTP downloads.

You can remotely access shared folders via FTP, but since there’s no support for SFTP it’d be wiser to use Buffalo’s own remote access feature instead. This allows password-protected access through the buffalonas.com website, and via the company’s iOS and Android apps.

As mentioned, the LS410D has just one USB port that you can use to share a USB printer or USB drive among your networked computers. Oddly, you can’t simply unplug your printer and then plug in a disk. First, you must disable the print server and enable the disk server in the web interface, which is cumbersome. Even more oddly, you can’t automatically back up shared folders to attached USB disks.

We think the Buffalo LinkStation LS410D is a fine choice for basic network file sharing, but it’s not great if you have advanced needs. Its performance when copying small files was disappointing and the extra features are too rough around the edges.