How to transfer files from a Smartphone easily

[j7n]

I love the Ghost Commander. Very compact display with lots of data on screen. It installed without the play store. The FTP client works right away. Uploading to FTP also works. But I would rather download from the computer which is more comfortable. Long files seem to easily get cancelled when I click somewhere or the screen goes dark. I need to learn my way around it.

The phone doesn't play well with the router. Speed in the other direction is 50 Mbit/s. A solution apparently requires rooting to disable power management.

The WiFi FTP Server opens this page. I don't see where to grant any permissions to it. App permissions has "No permissions allowed" Not allowed: Location, Notifications (of course). Other permissions contains: Home screen shortcuts (no), Show on Lock screen (no), Open new windows while running in the background (no). Maybe the SD card will only show if I have one?

https://i.imgur.com/8jc9MAO.jpeg

Edited Tuesday at 01:54 PM by j7n

[w2k4eva]

17 hours ago, j7n said:

Long files seem to easily get cancelled when . . . the screen goes dark.

That sounds like there might be a power management setting to adjust... I haven't actually used the FTP functions so not sure exactly what to do there. For Ghost Commander, (this is for Pie, might be different for Android 15) try

• Android Settings->App Info->Ghost Commander->Advanced->Battery->Background restriction
• Android Settings->App Info->Ghost Commander->Advanced->Battery->Battery Optimization

maybe also similar for Wifi FTP Server?

18 hours ago, j7n said:

I need to learn my way around it.

There is a sort of help section about the network functions at https://sites.google.com/site/ghostcommander1/info#h.p_ID_505   but it is pretty sparse.

One thing not mentioned in the help, maybe mark the checkbox at:  Ghost Commander Settings->Miscellaneous (scroll almost to bottom)->Run file operations in a foreground service

Also look for some similar setting in the Wifi FTP Server app.

17 hours ago, j7n said:

The phone doesn't play well with the router.

That thread... well, WOW. My router is the Mikrotik RB750Gr3. Maybe it's a good thing my wifi access point is a D-Link rather than Mikrotik, so I did not have those issues. Also might help that I do not have any Xiaomi devices, though I do have some Samsung S7's mentioned in one of the related threads; they did not make clear whether the problematic ones were Qualcomm vs Exynos chipsets (mine are Qualcomms). Come to think of it, is your phone one of the Qualcomm type, or is it MediaTek? If Mikrotik themselves have not sorted it after almost 10 years, about all I can suggest is some different brand of access point. Or maybe try it from work, a friend's home, public library, or some other location away from your router?

17 hours ago, j7n said:

The WiFi FTP Server opens this page. I don't see where to grant any permissions to it.

What happens if you tap that notification when it pops up? Or, does the app have any settings that might lead there?

17 hours ago, j7n said:

Maybe the SD card will only show if I have one?

Maybe, I don't have either that Wifi FTP Server app nor any Android 15 devices to even look at, you might have to try that one for yourself. If you have any micro SD cards sitting around, even if they are not the ones you want to use permanently, almost any card up to 1TB should "work" just for a short experiment. 

[j7n]

Ok, cool, I set it to run file operations in foreground.

The processor is MediaTek Helio G81. I tried wi-fi in a public location, and it would start at 40 Mbit/s and then got throttled (because it is free). But it obviously started faster. I don't recall what brand it was. Something professional sounding.

People told me to update RouterOS, but I don't have faith that the problem was fixed if it didn't look like it when the complaints were made. I still have RouterOS 6.10 because I am afraid of losing my settings or bricking the device on update. One person writes that it is possible to decrease the radio power management on the smartphone, which requires root rights.

I have RB2011. It sits on a PC about a meter from a window. I can go outside 6 floors below, sit on a bench and browse the internet. I wonder how far it would reach on a clear channel. Lots of people have wireless around here. Too bad it's not  possible to hack the portable device for more channels.

[w2k4eva]

On 7/30/2025 at 3:57 AM, j7n said:

I don't have faith that the problem was fixed

Some forum threads suggest it may have been fixed in 6.43 or 6.44.  Since I am not using Mikrotik wifi hardware, I honestly can't tell if it ever got fixed. What I can say, is that my androids get bandwidth much better than 20Mbit/s or even 50Mbit/s and there is no special issue around long files on androids (or for that matter anywhere else).

On 7/30/2025 at 3:57 AM, j7n said:

I still have RouterOS 6.10

Mine shipped with 6.43, which I promply updated to then-current 6.48.3 that I am still using. My D-Link wifi plus a nameless chinese AP/repeater both work just fine with this and I never felt the need to change it.

On 7/30/2025 at 3:57 AM, j7n said:

I am afraid of losing my settings

You can do a "backup" and/or "export", download a copy of the files to your PC for safekeeping, (and possibly re-upload if it gets erased in the update), update, then "restore" or "import" afterwards. The former is a binary formatted file. (I do not know what format it is, 7-Zip and everything else I tried is unable to read it.) The latter is a text based set of commands (you can read this with notepad or similar if you are curious) that will work as if you had typed them yourself in the terminal.

On 7/30/2025 at 3:57 AM, j7n said:

or bricking the device on update.

When I updated mine, it worked pretty smoothly with no real issues. The only thing was a confusion on my part, that it needed some time to be left sitting after the update before it was ready to accept further input. I had assumed it was ready almost instantly, but it really needed more time, perhaps allowing 10-30 minutes would have been better.

On 7/30/2025 at 3:57 AM, j7n said:

One person writes that it is possible to decrease the radio power management on the smartphone, which requires root rights.

Sadly most manufacturers avoid releasing any documentation about the vendor partitions, and there is risk of screwing up the works if anything is done incorrectly here.

Edited 6 hours ago by w2k4eva