What is WebDAV on a NAS and how do you enable it? As soon as the iOS Files app was connected, my iPhone immediately gained 4TB

last month, my wife was on a business trip. On the way, she wanted to watch a movie stored on the NAS at home. WeChat couldn't transfer such large files, and transferring from the cloud drive required a membership. I remotely directed her to tap a few times in the iPhone's built-in "Files" app, and the NAS at home was hanging on her phone's sidebar. She picked a movie and dragged it into the local area, and a 2GB original drive was downloaded in half a minute. She asked me what kind of black magic this was. I said it's not black magic, it's WebDAV. Your NAS has been running this service for two years and it never really worked.

What is

WebDAV? SMB is a dialect, it's Mandarin

first clarify this with SMB. When you "map network drives" on your computer and drag files to the NAS, nine times out of ten, it's an SMB. This protocol is fast, but it basically only works well on local area networks—you stop eating as soon as you step out, and your phone has always been weak in support. WebDAV is different; it's a file protocol running on HTTP, the same path you use to browse web pages, and it transfers files. There are only two benefits: phones are naturally recognized by the phone, and cross-networks are naturally recognized as well.

my own understanding: SMB is a dialect within the community, and outside this local area network, no one understands it; WebDAV is Mandarin, and you can speak anywhere you can access the internet. So whenever the phone needs to touch a NAS or someone is away from home, WebDAV is almost always the first choice. Troubleshooting for computers not connecting to SMB shared folders. I previously wrote an article troubleshooting a computer that can't connect to NAS shared folders, was inside the house; This article is about words you can use even when you're out and about.

How to open

on Synology: Three minutes from the kit center

mention my cousin's second-hand Synology. Open DSM, go to the 'Package Center' and search for WebDAV, install the package called WebDAV Server, then open it. Inside are two boxes: 'Enable WebDAV' and 'Enable WebDAV HTTPS.' Check the port of the former as 5005 (HTTP), and the latter as 5006 (HTTPS). Once you finish installing it, it's basically like installing an app. Some versions of DSM7 moved this entry to the File Services in the Control Panel. If you look in both places, you'll find one.

here's a particularly easy pitfall: 5005, 5006, and the Synology management page are all four different ports. The Synology backend you usually type in your browser is 5000 (HTTPS is 5001), which manages the entire machine; 5005 is the gateway to the file protocol. Don't get it mixed up and end up forwarding to the wrong port on the router. On my first trip, I entered 5000 in the router port forwarding field, but forwarding it was a complete mess.

there's another common overlook for beginners: just opening the service isn't enough—your account needs permissions. Don't connect to admin accounts—just create a separate account in the control panel, and only grant it read/write permissions for the one or two shared folders it needs. I've previously written an article about NAS How to set shared folder permissions for shared folders, and the same logic applies when opening accounts for family members on a NAS. WebDAV exposes the file entry point; the narrower the account permissions, the less the loss in case of an incident.

How to open

Feinius: Casually freeloading foreign sites too

My main pick is Feiniu, the N100 dual-chassis model. Feiniu's file service includes WebDAV. In the file service settings of the Control Panel, just find the WebDAV label and open it. The menu position varies slightly depending on the version; if you can't find it, search in the settings and don't dig through file management, as it is not there.

the real appeal of Feiniu is on foreign websites. If Synology wants external phones to connect to WebDAV, it either needs public IPs paired with DDNS or uses internal network penetration. Feiniu's built-in FN Connect is a free relay. You can register an FN ID, and when you're out, just use the FN ID domain to connect to WebDAV. No public IP or port forwarding, so the configuration is almost zero. Speed is limited by relays, so dragging large files isn't fast, but it's more than enough for low-traffic scenarios like reading documents and syncing notes. When I paired remote access to my mom's old device I prioritized using these official channels. How could I connect to the NAS at home outside? The hassle was on a whole different level.

Direct connection to

iPhone file apps: a 256GB phone instantly becomes 4 T

return to the opening scene. The iOS "File" app natively supports WebDAV. The operation is just four steps: open the Files app, tap the "..." in the top right corner, select "Connect to server," enter http://192.168.31.10:5005 (replace with your NAS IP and port), then select "Registered User" in the login box and enter your account and password. Once connected, a server appears in the sidebar. Clicking it brings you to the NAS's shared directory, where browsing, downloading, uploading, and creating new folders are all operated directly on your phone. My NAS photo library only has over 3TB, and with a 256GB iPhone attached, it's like carrying a 4TB storage space.

two pitfalls mentioned in advance. First, don't type the address into HTTPS to save trouble and use 5006: NAS usually has a self-signed form, and iOS will directly deny connection. The solution is to use Safari to visit https://192.168.31.10:5006. When a certificate warning appears, choose to continue and trust, and then the Files App will be connected. If you find it troublesome, just use the plaintext 5005 port for the internal network, since traffic doesn't leave your home. Second, the NAS IP must be nailed down; once DHCP changes the lease address, it drifts, and the connections stored on the phone become invalid. I've learned this from a long time ago by binding a static IP to a NAS binding a static IP to a device ensures that all paths stored on your phone or computer are not invalidated.

By the way, the digital photo frame I converted from an old tablet at home also relied on this method: frame apps rely on WebDAV or SMB to attach to the NAS's photo library the old tablet was converted to a digital photo frame, and the photos were updated on the NAS, the frame automatically flashed out, so you didn't have to import photos into the tablet.

Mobile Note Sync: Joplin connects to WebDAV, and you don't need to recharge for a penny

the scenario where I truly can't live without WebDAV is actually notes. Writing with Joplin, free and open source, multi-platform synchronization relies on a single WebDAV address. Configure in Joplin's sync settings: select WebDAV as the sync target, enter the URL for the NAS and add a dedicated directory path for the notebook, for example, http://192.168.31.10:5005/notes, enter your account and password, click to check configuration, and once it's done, you're done. I have over 900 notebooks with image attachments, totaling 1.4GB. Syncing across phones, computers, and iPads depends on Wi-Fi. At home, gigabit environments basically sync imperceptibly.

two must-do actions. First, create a separate folder for your notes. Don't point the sync URL to the root of the shared folder, or hundreds of sync lock files will be mixed with your movie and photos in one directory, which looks annoying and can cause trouble if accidentally deleted. Second, the "Fail-safe" switch in Joplin settings must be turned on. It prevents disasters like "the remote directory is empty, the client thinks you've deleted all local data, and then clears the local area too." I've experienced the issue of accidental deletion by syncing tools causing contagion the feeling of watching files decrease and increase simultaneously.

Going Out Outside: Three Roads, Plus One Red Line

connecting to the internal IP at home is fine, but how do you connect when you go out? There are three routes sorted by how much you mess with them: have a public IP , the router uses DDNS port forwarding, connects to the domain name, checks if you have a public IP, and if not, you need one. I've written about how to check if you have a public IP; There is also a complete article on how to configure DDNS on a router How to set up DDNS on a router without a public IP setup, use networking tools like Tailscale, connect your phone and NAS to the same virtual network, and change the address in the File app to the virtual network IP. This means you have a dedicated line for yourself router VPN to home remotely; Feiniu users' , just go straight to FN ID. As mentioned earlier, zero configuration.

red line is simple: don't bare the plaintext port of 5005 into the public . WebDAV on HTTP has account passwords in plaintext, and this port is scanned too frequently. Previously, I checked why a device at home was frantically uploading in the middle of the night, flipping through router logs Any signs the router was hacked? After seeing all kinds of unfamiliar IP knocking logs, you'll understand: there are no corners on the public internet, only not yet your turn. If it really gets exposed on the public network, go via HTTPS, change the port to a high position, and have passwords starting at 16 digits—don't skimp on any of these three things. The ransomware article mentioned even harsher consequences: the NAS is exposed and sleeps more soundlyNAS will be targeted by ransomware.

order is also set for you: first stake a static IP on the NAS, then open WebDAV and create a narrow-permission account, try connecting to the mobile file app, synchronize notes and confirm Fail-safe is enabled, and leave the external network route at the end to figure it out. My order was reversed: first I tried to traverse foreign websites all night, but finally realized the only thing holding me was the IP floating and wasting all my efforts.