Using FTP to xfr files between a Windows PC and an Android device

[Alek]

I'm swamped with all the messages about the various methods suggested
for transferring files as per the subject line.

I would like to set up ftp. Would some kind soul post (repost?) the
cookbook for doing so?

Is there a way to use FileZilla on the PC and an ftp server on the Android?

Thanks.

[Roger Mills]

Yes.

Install ES File Explorer on the Android device if you don't already have
it. Open it and tap 'Network' followed by 'Remote Manager'. This creates
an FTP server on the Android device.

Then tap 'Turn on'. It will then tell you the IP address at which you
need you point the FTP client (FileZilla in your case) on the PC -
something like: ftp://192.168.1.79:3721/

Open the FTP client on the PC and point it at the address specified by
ES Explorer, and you'll be able to transfer files to and fro. I don't
know FileZilla but it probably works in a similar way to AceFTP which I
use. That has two panes, one for the PC and one for the Android - and
you simply have to navigate to the desired folders on both devices and
then start transferring files.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

[Alek]

Thanks. There are any of a number of Android FTP servers that work in
the same manner.

[Roger Mills]

OK, so what else do you need to know?

[Big Al]

I don't have ES Explorer but my file explorer did have a little 'ftp'
icon at the bottom and it did the same thing. That was too simple to
do. I deleted the wi-fi transfer app and freed up some room too.
+1

[Alek]

I'm good. Thanks.

[Jonas Schneider]

On Sat, 25 Mar 2017 17:30:43 -0400, Big Al <Bi...@invalid.com> wrote:

>> Install ES File Explorer on the Android device if you don't already have
>> it. Open it and tap 'Network' followed by 'Remote Manager'. This creates
>> an FTP server on the Android device.
>>
>> Then tap 'Turn on'. It will then tell you the IP address at which you
>> need you point the FTP client (FileZilla in your case) on the PC -
>> something like: ftp://192.168.1.79:3721/
>>
>> Open the FTP client on the PC and point it at the address specified by
>> ES Explorer, and you'll be able to transfer files to and fro. I don't
>> know FileZilla but it probably works in a similar way to AceFTP which I
>> use. That has two panes, one for the PC and one for the Android - and
>> you simply have to navigate to the desired folders on both devices and
>> then start transferring files.
>
> I don't have ES Explorer but my file explorer did have a little 'ftp'
> icon at the bottom and it did the same thing. That was too simple to
> do. I deleted the wi-fi transfer app and freed up some room too.

I've had ES File Explorer for eons and never even realized it had an FTP
client on it until this week! Thanks.

I try to keep my versions old, so I'm using ES File Explorer
com.estrongs.android.pop version 4.1.2.4 as reported by Applications Info
(com.majeur.applicationsinfo).

At first, I figured to start an FTP server, I would just press
ES File Explorer: Hamburger > Network > FTP, but you don't so I followed
your instructions more carefully the second time.

ES File Explorer: Hamburger > Network > Remote Manager > Turn on
and that gave me the FTP URI ftp://192.168.1.5:3721/

Then, in any version of Windows, just add the "network place"
http://smallvoid.com/article/winnt-web-network-place.html

The URI to the network place is simply the URI from ES File Explorer:
ftp://192.168.1.5:3721/

In ES File Explorer, once I started the FTP server, I looked at the
settings, where, by default ES File Explorer did the following:
a. It set the port to 3721
b. It set the root directory to /sdcard <== I wonder why?
c. It set the account login to "Anonymous" (no password)

In ES File Explorer "Settings" was a button to "Create a shortcut to launch
FTP server", which put an "ESFTP" shortcut on my desktop, so that, in the
future, to launch the ESFTP server, all I had to do was tap that shortcut.

If you do it right, there will be two shortcuts:
A. ESFTP shortcut on Android (to start the FTP Server)
B. My Network Places ftp shortcut on Windows (to access Android on Windows)

In just two clicks (one each on Android & Windows), your entire Android
file system is "mounted" on Windows.

Thanks for this suggestion for improvement!
I love that all the Android users work together to help each other!

[Roger Mills]

On 26/03/2017 06:45, Jonas Schneider wrote:

>
> Then, in any version of Windows, just add the "network place"
> http://smallvoid.com/article/winnt-web-network-place.html
>
> The URI to the network place is simply the URI from ES File Explorer:
> ftp://192.168.1.5:3721/
>

Just a small word of caution. Unless you're using fixed IP addresses on
your network, 192.168.1.5 will have been allocated to your Android
device by your internet router, using DHCP - and may not always be the
same, depending on what else is connected at the time. So you need to
check the address shown by ES Explorer, and edit your 'network place' if
necessary.

[Les Cargill]

Roger Mills wrote:
> On 26/03/2017 06:45, Jonas Schneider wrote:
>
>>
>> Then, in any version of Windows, just add the "network place"
>> http://smallvoid.com/article/winnt-web-network-place.html
>>
>> The URI to the network place is simply the URI from ES File
>> Explorer: ftp://192.168.1.5:3721/
>>
>
> Just a small word of caution. Unless you're using fixed IP addresses
> on your network, 192.168.1.5 will have been allocated to your
> Android device by your internet router, using DHCP - and may not
> always be the same, depending on what else is connected at the time.
> So you need to check the address shown by ES Explorer, and edit your
> 'network place' if necessary.

Just to make it worse - most/many routers make a practice of
assigning the IP back to the same MAC address if they can.

--
Les Cargill

[Roger Mills]

I'm not sure whether that was a 'tongue in cheek' comment because it
would actually make things *better* if the Android device always got the
same IP address.

[Jonas Schneider]

On Sun, 26 Mar 2017 23:17:10 +0100, Roger Mills <watt....@gmail.com>
wrote:

>> Just to make it worse - most/many routers make a practice of
>> assigning the IP back to the same MAC address if they can.
>>
>
> I'm not sure whether that was a 'tongue in cheek' comment because it
> would actually make things *better* if the Android device always got the
> same IP address.

I wonder if there is a way to *edit* the desktop shortcut that ES File
Explorer makes which starts the FTP server?

Does anyone know if ES File Explorer shortucuts can be edited with a text
editor?

[Jonas Schneider]

On Sun, 26 Mar 2017 11:57:14 -0500, Les Cargill <lcarg...@comcast.com>
wrote:

> Just to make it worse - most/many routers make a practice of
> assigning the IP back to the same MAC address if they can.

I don't know why, but, my phone is "almost always" on 192.168.1.5 but I
agree that this isn't etched in stone.

If I *wanted* it to be stable permanently on IP address
192.168.1.xomething, where would I change that?

In the SOHO router?
Or on the phone itself?

[nospam]

In article <oba6n1$l6h$3...@news.albasani.net>, Jonas Schneider

<Jonas123...@arcor.de> wrote:

> If I *wanted* it to be stable permanently on IP address
> 192.168.1.xomething, where would I change that?

router

[Poutnik]

Dne 27/03/2017 v 07:13 nospam napsal(a):

Most of routers offer to reserve a specific IP address
to MAC address of a device, via web console interface.

A Particular procedure is router dependent.

--
Poutnik ( The Pilgrim, Der Wanderer )

[Carlos E. R.]

Any.

Wi-Fi setup, long press on the connection, modify connection, advanced
options. It probably has "IP adjustments: DHCP". You can change to
static, then another entry appears asking for the IP. I didn't go
further to check, but it also has to ask for gateway and dns.

On the router, somewhere, you can tell to give a certain IP to the MAC
belonging to the phone. This is typically easier.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

[Jonas Schneider]

On Mon, 27 Mar 2017 13:46:12 +0200, "Carlos E. R."
<robin_...@es.invalid> wrote:

> Wi-Fi setup, long press on the connection, modify connection, advanced
> options. It probably has "IP adjustments: DHCP". You can change to
> static, then another entry appears asking for the IP. I didn't go
> further to check, but it also has to ask for gateway and dns.
>
> On the router, somewhere, you can tell to give a certain IP to the MAC
> belonging to the phone. This is typically easier.

I like your answer the best!
The IP address for the FTP server should, IMHO, naturally be set on the
phone.

1. I long pressed on the WiFi connection
2. The options were, for each network Access Point (of which I have many)
a. Forget network
b. Modify network config
3. I pressed Modify network config
4. I checked "Show advanced options" which provided
a. Proxy settings
b. IP settings
5. I clicked "IP settings" which provided
a. DHCP <-- this was the setting
b. Static
6. I clicked "Static" which gave me the following:
a. IP address = 192.168.1.5
b. Gateway = 192.168.1.1
c. Network prefix length = 24
d. DNS 1 = 192.168.1.1
e. DNS 2 = 8.8.8.4
7. I hit "Save".

Time will tell if this worked, where the bad news is that I think I may
need to do that for every of my many access points, but let's see how it
goes first.

Thanks for that idea for how to set a static IP address from the phone!

[Roger Mills]

Do it on the router. It's a *bad* idea to do it on the phone, even if it
allows you to. If you want to make use of WiFi when you're out and
about, the phone *must* allow itself to be given an IP address by the
particular DHCP server - otherwise it won't work.

[nospam]

In article <ek06lj...@mid.individual.net>, Roger Mills

<watt....@gmail.com> wrote:

> > If I *wanted* it to be stable permanently on IP address
> > 192.168.1.xomething, where would I change that?
> >
> > In the SOHO router?
> > Or on the phone itself?
>
> Do it on the router. It's a *bad* idea to do it on the phone, even if it
> allows you to.

yep

> If you want to make use of WiFi when you're out and
> about, the phone *must* allow itself to be given an IP address by the
> particular DHCP server - otherwise it won't work.

not necessarily. it can work, but you have to know what to set it to.

[Daniel James]

In article <ek06lj...@mid.individual.net>, Roger Mills wrote:
> If you want to make use of WiFi when you're out and
> about, the phone *must* allow itself to be given an IP address by the
> particular DHCP server - otherwise it won't work.

Yes ... but the IP settings are configured separately for each WiFI
SSID, so setting a fixed IP address for one WAP won't force that address
on any other.

--
Cheers,
Daniel.

[Roger Mills]

If you say so! I've no idea how to do that on my phone.

[Carlos E. R.]

On 2017-03-28 05:45, Jonas Schneider wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Mar 2017 13:46:12 +0200, "Carlos E. R."
> <robin_...@es.invalid> wrote:
>
>> Wi-Fi setup, long press on the connection, modify connection, advanced
>> options. It probably has "IP adjustments: DHCP". You can change to
>> static, then another entry appears asking for the IP. I didn't go
>> further to check, but it also has to ask for gateway and dns.
>>
>> On the router, somewhere, you can tell to give a certain IP to the MAC
>> belonging to the phone. This is typically easier.
>
> I like your answer the best!
> The IP address for the FTP server should, IMHO, naturally be set on the
> phone.

Not really. There is no hard reason for one method or the other.

On setups with several/many computers, the admin typically prefers doing
the setup on the router (or separate DHCP server) because it is a
central location to set up the entire network.

On the other hand, others prefer to set up the servers individually,
because it will work even if the dhcp server fails.

> 1. I long pressed on the WiFi connection
> 2. The options were, for each network Access Point (of which I have many)
> a. Forget network
> b. Modify network config
> 3. I pressed Modify network config
> 4. I checked "Show advanced options" which provided
> a. Proxy settings
> b. IP settings
> 5. I clicked "IP settings" which provided
> a. DHCP <-- this was the setting
> b. Static
> 6. I clicked "Static" which gave me the following:
> a. IP address = 192.168.1.5

Careful: look into the router config first to find out what range of IPs
it gives automatically, and then use one IP outside of that range.

> b. Gateway = 192.168.1.1
> c. Network prefix length = 24
> d. DNS 1 = 192.168.1.1
> e. DNS 2 = 8.8.8.4
> 7. I hit "Save".
>
> Time will tell if this worked, where the bad news is that I think I may
> need to do that for every of my many access points, but let's see how it
> goes first.

You have to do it for each SSID.

>
> Thanks for that idea for how to set a static IP address from the phone!

Welcome! :-)

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

[Carlos E. R.]

On 2017-03-29 22:12, Roger Mills wrote:
> On 29/03/2017 18:46, Daniel James wrote:
>> In article<ek06lj...@mid.individual.net>, Roger Mills wrote:
>>> If you want to make use of WiFi when you're out and
>>> about, the phone *must* allow itself to be given an IP address by the
>>> particular DHCP server - otherwise it won't work.
>>
>> Yes ... but the IP settings are configured separately for each WiFI
>> SSID, so setting a fixed IP address for one WAP won't force that address
>> on any other.
>>
>
> If you say so! I've no idea how to do that on my phone.

I explained how a few posts back.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

[Roger Mills]

Fair enough. I did look earlier, but couldn't see anything other than
'proxy'. It was only after tapping 'enter' to indicate that I didn't
want to change my password that the other options - DHCP vs Static
address, etc. - appeared.

Ah well, you learn something new every day!

[tlvp]

On Tue, 28 Mar 2017 03:45:49 +0000 (UTC), Jonas Schneider wrote:

> The IP address for the FTP server should, IMHO, naturally be set on the
> phone.

Only if you're willing to change it, when using your FTP server with
another device whose DHCP setup has already reserved that IP address for
purposes of its own :-) . Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.