A quicker way to share Android folder over non-internet WiFi on Windows 10/11 systems?

Question

Windows 10 / 11 allows for a network share of folders over WiFi, even if there's no internet, where I can easily access and/or transfer files to/from folders from one computer to another. (i.e.: by following standard procedures shown here).

Can something similarly seamless be done with an Android device? Ideally, I'd like to be able to access and/or transfer files to/from shared folder on an Android device to/from Windows over WiFi and without any internet connectivity requirements and without having to manually type IP addresses into a browser.

Answer 1

I confirmed a method that works, based on slight modifications of existing instructions that involve forwarding some TCP and UDP ports to be numbers that are 1000 higher.

(FOR ACCESSING ANDROID FILES FROM THE WINDOWS PC)

1. On the android device, find and install the LanDrive app through its APK file; even if the "app store" on newer devices claim it cannot be installed due to it being a newer version of Android, the APK installation file worked for me.

2. On the LanDrive, start the SMB server; on the Windows PC, the android device should appear in the Network folder, but remains unaccessible.

3. Then on the Window device, install the Multi Port Forwarder from Verigio; a basic free license worked and is enough.

4. On the Multi Port Forwarder, add three rules as per the picture below. Basically, on the "Outgoing" direction, (1) make a UDP that goes from Port 137 to be forwarded as Port 1137 // (2) make a UDP that goes from Port 138 to be forwarded as Port 1138 // (3) make a TCP that goes from Port 445 to be forwarded as Port 1445

5. On the Windows PC, the android device should appear in the Network folder, but is now completely accessible. I was able to access/move/create all the folders of the Android device over the network from the PC;

6. This is confirmed to work as long as the LANdrive app on the android device has its SMB Server started.

(FOR ACCESSING WINDOWS FILES FROM THE ANDROID DEVICE)

1. Make PC discoverable on network -> make a folder to be shared on the network,
2. Install LAN Drive app on Android, run app,
3. go to SMB client,
4. select the discovered PC and then to the shared folder.

(PICTURE)