How do I access an external hard drive plugged into my router?

Solution 1:

As of 10/23/2012
You need CIFS not SAMBA :

1. sudo apt-get install cifs-utils
2. Add //192.168.1.1/USB_Storage /media/public cifs guest 0 0 to your /etc/fstab

I would not have gotten this far without the original answer so thank you.

Solution 2:

Do you know your router's IP address? (usually 192.168.1.1, but it may vary).

Open a File Browser (Nautilus) window, then press Ctrl+L and in the location bar that appears type

smb://192.168.1.1

that may give you access to the disk, which is usually published to the network via the SMB protocol.

Solution 3:

I have this same router and just figured out how to access an external drive via Ubuntu. I wrote a blog post with the details but here's the short version:

1. Install the smbfs package (sudo aptitude install smbfs).
2. Create a directory in which to mount your external hard drive (e.g., sudo mkdir /media/public).
3. Add a line to the file /etc/fstab (gksudo gedit /etc/fstab) - at the end of the file add this line: //192.168.1.1/USB_Storage /media/public smbfs guest 0 0
4. Save your newly updated fstab file then remount your drives (sudo mount -a); you should now be able to see your new external drive at /media/public.