How To Transfer Files From PC to PC Using Wi-Fi

Transferring your files from PC to PC is integral to getting your new rig setup. Or, you might just want to over some files from your friend’s computer to yours. With that said, with the advent of high-speed Wi-Fi, transferring your files over a network is now easier than ever.

With that said, a few different methods let you quickly transfer your files from one PC to the other without needing an ethernet connection.

In this article, we’ll go over exactly how you can transfer files from PC to PC using Wi-Fi, alongside which method is the most suitable for a particular use case.

Method #1: Using Dukto R6

Dukto R6 is an extremely lightweight application that lets you transfer large files from one computer to another using LAN or Wi-Fi. The application seems to allow file transfers of up to 60 GB from our testing. 

Both the PC’s storage solutions dictate the average transfer speed alongside your network’s general speed. We were getting speeds of up to 100 Mbps. However, your mileage may vary.

Here’s how you can use Dukto R6 to transfer files from PC to PC using Wi-Fi.

1. Download Dukto R6 and install it on both computers.
   
2. After doing so, you’ll find a list of the computer you wish to connect to under “Buddies”.
   
3. Click on “Send some files” and select the file you wish to send.

Method #2: Using Windows Networking

Using Windows’ own Homegroup feature is quite convenient if both of your PCs are Windows-based devices. Compared to Dukto, you get two added benefits. Firstly, you don’t need to install any additional software. And secondly, you don’t need to establish a connection every time.

As soon as a PC in your Homegroup is discovered as turned on in your network, you can transfer files automatically with no qualms whatsoever. However, you may often run into issues. 

Here’s how you can share files from PC to PC using Wi-Fi using Windows Networking.

1. Open the File Explorer.
2. Right-click on the folder or file you wish to share.
3. Click on “Specific People”.
4. After doing so, select the user you wish to share your file with.
5. You can now access the folder on the client’s computer by heading to the “Network” tab.

If you cannot find the computer you wish to share files to, you’ll have to ensure that you are connected to the same network, and “File Discovery & Sharing” is turned on in your network settings.

Method #3: Using a Cloud Service

With cloud-based services now becoming the norm, services like Google Drive and Dropbox allow you to transfer large quantities of files over the Internet. The only catch is that uploading to these sites can be quite slow, depending on your bandwidth.

You’ll also take up a lot of storage space on your cloud service’s website. Moreover, the last download also depends on your download speed which can vary depending on your internet connection.

One advantage is the fact that you’ll be able to access your data over long distances and will be able to keep a backup of it on the cloud as well. So, if you often change devices and have a few files that you keep on every device, a cloud service makes a lot of sense.

Here’s how you can transfer files from PC to PC using Wi-Fi on a cloud service.

1. Open Google Drive (we’ll be using it for this example).
   
2. Head to “New” and click on “File Upload”.
3. Select the file you wish to upload. Depending on your bandwidth, this can take a while.
4. Now that you’ve uploaded the file, right-click on it in the Drive.
   
5. Click on Share.
6. Copy the Share link and paste it into your secondary computer’s browser.
   
7. After opening the file on your secondary browser, click on the “Download” icon.

Method #4: Using Your Router’s Storage

You might not know this, but you can use your router as an FTP server to transfer files. Your router doesn’t have flash storage. So, you’ll need to insert an SD card/microSD card to plop in some storage.

We recommend using this method if you have a few files that you want to transfer to multiple computers over Wi-Fi. This is because you’ll be able to use your router as a server and therefore have multiple transfers going on at once instead of establishing series-based connections.

Here’s how you can use your router’s storage to transfer files from PC to PC using Wi-Fi.

1. Head to your router’s default gateway.
2. Enable the Sharing option, depending on your router, to start an FTP server.
3. You’ll now be asked to enter a username and password accordingly.
4. Download an FTP client like FileZilla.
5. Upload the files that you wish to download on the client’s computer.
6. Use the same FTP client or head to the login and use the browser.
7. Download the file that you’ve uploaded.

Conclusion

All the methods we’ve listed above are suitable for specific use cases. If you want to transfer a large sum of files, we recommend using Dukto. If you just want a quick file transfer, you can use Windows Networking.