Tutorial NitroShare FOSS cross-platform file & folder transfer over Wi-Fi between any desktop & Android

[Arlen Holder]

Tutorial NitroShare FOSS cross-platform file & folder transfer
over Wi-Fi between any desktop & Android

The procedure "should" be similar for Mac & Linux (I did not test them).
o As always, please correct & improve so all benefit from every action.

Screenshots:
o <https://i.postimg.cc/90HqTpw2/nitroshare01.jpg> Open Windows firewall
o <https://i.postimg.cc/Z5382rkR/nitroshare02.jpg> Android NitroShare
o <https://i.postimg.cc/CMzvhP9r/nitroshare03.jpg> Select file(s)
o <https://i.postimg.cc/qBsN34fN/nitroshare04.jpg> Select desktop
o <https://i.postimg.cc/s24LWMJn/nitroshare05.jpg> Closed Windows firewall

On the Android device:
A. Download & install FOSS NitroShare on your mobile device (Android 4.1+)
<https://nitroshare.net/android/>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.nitroshare.android/>
<https://github.com/nitroshare/nitroshare-android>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.nitroshare.android>

Note the default settings (change if desired):
Transfer Directory = /storage/emulated/0/Download/NitroShare
Receive Transfers = [x]Accept incoming transfers from other devices

On the desktop:
1. Download & install FOSS NitroShare on your Windows, macOS, or Linux desktop
mkdir x:\installers\network\sharing\nitroshare
<https://nitroshare.net/>
<https://github.com/nitroshare/nitroshare-desktop>
<https://launchpadlibrarian.net/340674247/nitroshare-0.3.4-windows-x86_64.exe>
Name: nitroshare-0.3.4-windows-x86_64.exe
Size: 9308628 bytes (9090 KiB)
CRC32: 4917F5FC
CRC64: D2B4070FCB50A78F
SHA256: 0816AA1147F66D09B5AF96170AB34361516A58A98D98470025B285ADE71CA358
SHA1: BAD85F4DED7C3C941FD4F2BC85CA5A97DA4D121E
BLAKE2sp: 00F70B9EE265A52AFC6D176ABD2C9E9CA43B0F8E15601420375B5A3B3845F94D

2. Doubleclick on the nitroshare executable
It wants to go into: C:\Program Files\NitroShare
I put it where it belongs: C:\app\network\sharing\nitroshare
Note: You define where things belong!
Check the box to [x]Create a desktop shortcut
Note the shortcut has administrator privileges (when you rename it)
TARGET C:\app\network\sharing\nitroshare\nitroshare.exe

3. Move the shortcut off the desktop into your menu folder
move NitroShare.lnk c:\menu\network\sharing\nitroshare.lnk
Start NitroShare via your pinned TaskBar cascade pullout menu
Taskbar > menu > network > sharing > nitroshare
Note that NitroShare adds an icon into your Win10 System Tray

4. Check the settings (change if desired) on the desktop NitroShare
Rightclick the NitroShare icon in the Windows system tray > Settings
Device name: foo <== this will be the name of your desktop
Directory: C:/Users/%username%/Downloads/NitroShare

5. Make sure your Windows firewall allows NitroShare file transfers
I set NitroShare to start upon login & then rebooted.
When the Windows firewall message came up, I accepted it.
Until I did this, I couldn't transfer any files.
I would get the error on Android:

At this point, you "should" be able to transfer files both ways.
a. On Android press the NitroShare red "upload" button.
b. Select the file(s)/folder(s) to upload to the desktop
c. When prompted, select the desktop name to upload to

A. On the desktop right click the NitroShare icon in the system tray
B. Select "Send Files..." & select the file(s) to upload to Android
C. When prompted, select the Android device to upload to

Note: For whatever reason, I can only transfer from Android to Windows;
I need help debugging why Windows won't see the Android device
(and yet, Android can both see Windows 10 & transfer files to it).

Please let me know if it works for you both ways (as it should).
As always, please correct & improve so all benefit from every action.
--
See also:
o KDE Connect is a keeper for sending & receiving files over your Wi-Fi LAN to/from any desktop to/from any Android phone!
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/4x1rf1JefW8>

[Arlen Holder]

Details matter...

I had a friend test this out, but he asked, quite appropriately:
a. Bbbuuuttt why not just use bluetooth?
b. Or... why not just use ad hoc wi-fi direct from android to desktop?

I should clarify, since most of you know my setup, but some might not, and,
in the future, those coming here for solutions definitely won't know this:

The tested desktop is Windows 10 which has no inherent bluetooth nor Wi-Fi
capability, so any solution using bluetooth or a direct Wi-Fi connection
would be problematic, to say the least. :)

If your desktop is bluetooth enabled (mine is not); you would have other
solutions to compare this against (particularly in speed I would think).

Likewise, if your desktop has a Wi-Fi NIC you might also have other
solutions to compare this NitroShare (and KDEConnect) solution with.

While my desktop does not have a Wi-Fi NIC, it is connected via Wi-Fi to
the LAN (which is far, far, away); but via a short Ethernet connection to a
Mikrotik RB411 router running RouterOS 6.28 with an attached Mikrotik Wi-Fi
daughterboard R52-n-M and a 20dBi antenna which then connects to the SOHO
router on the LAN via its 2.4GHz or 5GHz access point (the R52-n-M can do
either but the adjustable wire-mesh dish antenna is currently "tuned" for
2.4GHz.

That may sound a bit complicated (and it is when it comes to NetBIOS
broadcasts being transmitted through that Mikrotik router, which I've never
understood well enough to resolve, so only static shares seem to work).

While my setup is merely to extend the range of my desktop so that it can
connect to a LAN which could be hundreds of feet away, for our purposes of
this test, we can simply consider the desktop as being connected by
Ethernet to the main SOHO router. (AFAICT)

In summary though, what would be nice is for others to test this NitroShare
solution out so that others may benefit from every action you take.
--
See also:
o Curious how far your Wi-Fi access point is from your desktop computer
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/PkD0jfa9GqM>