Skip to main content

Iomega iConnect Review

iomega iconnect review
Iomega iConnect
“A cornucopia of features and low price tag make the iConnect look like a bargain, but slow transfer speeds over Wi-Fi and severe reliability issues hamper its real-life performance.”
Pros
  • Advanced feature set
  • Four USB ports
  • Wired performance similar on par with a PC
  • Small and unobtrusive
Cons
  • Extremely slow Wi-Fi performance
  • Severe reliability issues
  • Occasionally awkward admin software
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Introduction

When you can grab an external hard drive for barely $10 more than the internal equivalent these days, then connect it effortlessly via USB, it’s easy to see why so many people now carry their lives on a mix of thumb drives, portable hard drives, and media players. Iomega’s new $99 iConnect plays to that notion by accepting all forms of USB storage – and even printers – and putting them on a home network with minimal hassle. Above and beyond merely aggregating your USB devices into a networked octopus, the iConnect also offers an array of advanced features like iTunes integration, one-touch file copy transfer, and remote access.

Features

Slinging files from USB storage devices to your network is the driving force behind the iConnect, but not the only thing it can do. Locally, it can take a USB printer and share it with an entire network, act as an iTunes or uPnP AV media server, and perform quick transfers – like from one thumb drive to another – with the press of a dedicated button. After setting it up on an Internet-connected network, you can also access your files remotely through a browser, use it as an always-on client for download torrent files, and configure it to send e-mail messages when it encounters errors for remote administration.

Setup

After connecting an Ethernet cable, USB jump drive and a power cable stringing from a good-sized brick, the blue LED status lights on the iConnect come alive and turn solid within about 20 seconds or so. Afterwards, it’s a simple matter of popping in the iConnect disc and installing Iomega Storage Manager – a modest 9MB client that will handle locating the iConnect on your network for you – no sifting through Windows admins or any other heavy lifting.

Although you could pull the setup process off in a couple minutes under ideal conditions, as with all networking devices, little things can lead to complications. Our PC couldn’t see it when we tried to set it up behind the network passthrough on a VoIP phone. Plugging in directly eliminated the issue. Wi-Fi also proved to be more than a hiccup in the setup process. You’ll need to hardwire the iConnect first to plug in pertinent Wi-Fi details before cutting the cord and going wireless. And when you do, the device will sometimes take a very long time (five minutes or more) to actually show up on a network. Initially, ours proved to be very flaky on Wi-Fi, prompting long tech support calls to Iomega and more than a little bit of frustration. Eventually, we ironed out the issues, but be prepared for networking hell if you hit any stumbling blocks.

Keep in mind that many advanced features will require additional setup, and for some, additional headaches. To set up remote access, for instance, you’ll have to tinker with your Internet router along with the Iomega box. Other advanced features have unforeseen limitations. The QuikTransfer button, for instance, can only move data from one connected drive to another, not from a portable drive to a connected computer, which we see as a far more useful option.

Software

Iomega Storage Manager only acts as a basic portal to access drive contents: After selecting the drive you would like to browse, the contents pop up in Windows Explorer just as a locally connected drive would. They will also appear under “Network Drives” when you access My Computer, eliminating the need to tool around with the Storage Manager much at all.

Administering the iConnect feels much like administering a Wi-Fi access point. After clicking “manage” in Storage Manager, all the advanced menus and options will open through a browser window. Because the iConnect shares it graphical user interface (GUI) with the much spendier Iomega StorCenter ix2, it feels incredibly polished and easy to use right off the bat, with the exception of a few clunky dead ends (for instance, attempting to download torrents with the iConnect right out of the box will simply tell you they’ve been disabled, without explaining or providing a link to the admin page where you can enable them.)

Performance

Because the iConnect offers no built-in storage of its own, the real test lies in how much longer it takes to move files back and forth across it, compared to just plugging a USB drive directly into your PC. We benchmarked with LaCie’s excellent Rikiki USB 2.0 drive, which offers read and write speeds of about 30 MB/s when connected locally. When connected to a gigabit Ethernet connection, the Iomega managed to move files off the LaCie at 16 MB/s and write to it at a rather pitiful 2.4 MB/s. Clearly, performance takes a hit, but no worse than if you connected the same drive to a Windows 7 computer and pulled the same test. We did just that with a Sony Vaio Y Series and got speeds up to 15.85 MB/s – right on par with the LaCie.

Still, that’s actually quite slow compared to other networked storage devices we’ve tested on the same network. Even middling NAS solutions, like LaCie’s Network Space 2, can hit nearly 35 MB/s. That’s more than the Rikiki can handle, admittedly, but also proof that the hardware interfacing with the drive, not the network, still stands as the bottleneck here.

Over 802.11g Wi-Fi, even with good signal, things took a turn for the worse. A 593MB file took 19 minutes and 34 seconds to transfer, for speeds of 0.50 MB/s. Here, the Sony Vaio Y series put it to shame, hitting speeds up to four times as fast on the same Wi-Fi test: an average of 2.0 MB/s. We suspect the iConnect’s relatively small form factor limits the size of the antenna significantly, decreasing Wi-Fi performance.

Conclusion

Iomega’s iConnect offers a fat bundle of attractive features – including Wi-Fi, printer sharing, torrent downloads and remote access – in a relatively affordable $100 package. Unfortunately, performance seems to suffer somewhere along the way, and our nightmarish experiences getting the Wi-Fi to work consistently convinced us that this isn’t the platform to rely on for mission-critical operations. For tying a bundle of USB devices into a home network, it pulls a lot of neat tricks. When it works.

Highs:

  • Advanced feature set
  • Four USB ports
  • Wired performance similar on par with a PC
  • Small and unobtrusive

Lows:

  • Extremely slow Wi-Fi performance
  • Severe reliability issues
  • Occasionally awkward admin software

Editors' Recommendations

Nick Mokey
As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…
We’ve tried them all — these are the best Sonos speakers in 2024
Sonos Move 2 in white.

One of the best speaker brands is Sonos so it’s a smart move to kit your home out with some great Sonos speakers. The range is busy enough that it can be tricky to know where to start. To an extent, any Sonos speaker is sure to delight you with some of the best wireless speakers around coming from Sonos. There’s also the benefit of Sonos’s multi-room system so you can easily get all your speakers to work together across the house. However, certain speakers are better for certain scenarios so a little research is always wise.

Below, we’ve picked out all the best Bluetooth speakers from Sonos. That includes some more affordable options, speakers that can be taken out and about with you, and ones that give you sound that will fill the room with joy. Whatever you pick here, you’re going to love it. A great speaker really does make the ambience at home so much better and you’ll soon notice some details you wouldn’t hear through inferior speakers. Keen to learn more? Let’s get straight into the best Sonos speakers.
The best Sonos speakers in 2024

Read more
JBL sale: Bluetooth speakers, wireless earbuds, and more, from $30
JBL Authentics 300.

JBL is one of the most popular brands in the audio industry, so you shouldn't pass up any chance to enjoy savings when buying one of its devices. If you're on the hunt for Bluetooth speaker deals, wireless earbuds deals, or discounts for any other type of audio device, you should check out what's available in Best Buy's JBL sale. You can get something for as low as $30, but there are bargains for some of JBL's premium products as well. Take a look at our recommendations below or go through everything that's on sale -- either way, you need to hurry because there's no telling how long stocks will last.

What to buy in Best Buy's JBL sale
The JBL Flip 6 portable speaker. JBL / JBL

Read more
Samsung’s new Music Frame smart speaker is essentially $100 off
The front panel of the Samsung Music Frame snaps off so you can swap it out with other artwork.

For a wireless speaker that doubles as an art piece in your bedroom or living room, you should check out the Samsung Music Frame smart speaker. It's available from Best Buy for $400, and every purchase comes with a $100 gift card that you can use on a future Best Buy purchase. That essentially drops the price of the unique device to a more affordable $300, but you better act fast because we're not sure how long this offer will remain available. If you can buy the wireless speaker now, you should probably do so.

Why you should buy the Samsung Music Frame smart speaker
The Samsung Music Frame is a wireless speaker that doubles as an old-fashioned picture frame, so you'll be able to listen to your favorite music while gazing at your photograph or artwork of choice. You have the option of swapping the bezels and the picture whenever you want. Behind the picture are two each of woofers, tweeters, and midrange drivers, which use Samsung's SpaceFit calibration technology to tune themselves according to the acoustics of the room where the Samsung Music Frame is placed. With its compatibility for Dolby Atmos, you'll enjoy rich surround sound.

Read more