File sharing to Android over wifi

[Azathoth]

Is there any way I can share or transfer folder/files directly over wifi between my MBP and my Android 2.2 phone (i.e. without Dropbox) or will I need to run an FTP server?

 

[sixcorners]

There are many ways to do it, if you don't need security an FTP server on either the phone or your mac is the way to go, just know that the server can't use the port that FTP normally uses for security reasons (unless you rooted it). Just search for ftp server in the android market and I'm sure you will find something. I personally use an SSH server on my Nexus One to transfer file to and from my phone securely. It's a little more difficult because Finder doesn't support sftp and I have to use the terminal and scp commands. That might not be the way to go though because the server costs money and it's not the easiest way to do it.

 

[Azathoth]

There are many ways to do it, if you don't need security an FTP server on either the phone or your mac is the way to go, just know that the server can't use the port that FTP normally uses for security reasons (unless you rooted it). Just search for ftp server in the android market and I'm sure you will find something. I personally use an SSH server on my Nexus One to transfer file to and from my phone securely. It's a little more difficult because Finder doesn't support sftp and I have to use the terminal and scp commands. That might not be the way to go though because the server costs money and it's not the easiest way to do it.

Can I get that to work without a router/access point i.e. have the MBP or the Android function as a router and dole out a DHCP? I'd like to setup a direct peering wifi connection between the Mac and the HTC Desire, unfortunately the Desire doesn't see the "create network" wifi that I make from the Mac.

I managed to do a share via SMB using ES File Explorer on the Desire (Astro File manager with the SMB plugin didn't work and was very confusing to set up).

Unfortunately on the Mac I had to do a huge kludge:
System Prefs -> Sharing -> Internet sharing (ethernet -> airport)
System Prefs -> Sharing -> File Sharing -> Options -> SMB (add myself as a user)
Unfortunately the IP address for the SMB share changes from time to time, plus I lose internet connectivity as I've redirected the Ethernet port to the Airport turing the mac into a router.

I'm still looking for a better way to do it...