alternatives to Dropbox

[Koant]

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions and clarifications. I decided to try spideroak and getsync.

getsync seems perfect but my connection at home forbids torrenting. Is there a way to make it work? I added the IP of my machine at work as a predefined host but nothing happened. I don't really want the access to my files to be dependent on the settings of the network I happen to be using.

[NoSleep]

It is very good and I don't mind paying for a good service. As the infamous stackoverflow answer* stated: "it just syncs". Reasons for not using it are:

• political concerns: http://www.drop-dropbox.com/
• privacy concerns: http://boingboing.net/2014/07/18/snowden-dropbox-is-an-nsa-sur.html

I'm not paranoid but in an ideal world, encryption should be the norm and I'd rather encourage companies that move towards that goal.
* _{can't find the link. Any one remembers this? It was amusing.}

Thanks for the heads up about Condoleeza Rice. I don't have any option but to use Dropbox currently because it's the only cloud storage app that supports PPC Macs running Tiger OS X, but it's another reason to make the jump to an Intel Mac (we lost Skype access on September 1st this year - thanks, Microsoft).

[Too Many Cochranes]

getsync seems perfect but my connection at home forbids torrenting. Is there a way to make it work? I added the IP of my machine at work as a predefined host but nothing happened. I don't really want the access to my files to be dependent on the settings of the network I happen to be using.

Does your torrent client allow you to change which port it uses in the settings menu? I'm on Virgin and they slow down the default port in Transmission client, so after a bit of Googling I discovered that if I altered the last couple of digits in the default port it uses (and port forwarded my Virgin SuperHub accordingly) the torrents started flying.

I think companies like Virgin have a list of common ports used for torrenting throttled. Just change it slightly.

[Koant]

Unfortunately I don't have access to the router so I can't port-forward. But I'm moving out in a couple of months and will be using Virgin by then, so it's good to know, thanks.

But that also means that I could be in a situation where I can't sync my files, unless the sys-admin has been kind enough to allow torrenting.

[Koant]

I've tried SpiderOak for a couple of weeks and I signed up for 100Gb. This is pretty good. It offers much more granularity than dropbox (you sync and backup whatever you want; you don't need to put everything into one folder. Different devices can sync only a subset of folders, not the whole thing everytime, etc..). As a consequence, the interface is a bit more complicated but the 2 mns videos make things very plain.

I really like the idea of bitsync as well and will give it a go later, but not for work because I want to be able to access my files whenever, and torrenting is not always allowed.

[Too Many Cochranes]

I think you've used my referral code too! Well, two people have and as a result I now have an extra 2GB storage. Cheers!

[Koant]

I did! And I also got a 10% discount from them as well, a week or so after I was using it.

[BPFHAY]

I really like the idea of bitsync as well and will give it a go later, but not for work because I want to be able to access my files whenever, and torrenting is not always allowed.

It's not torrenting, it's just the company name is being used for this tech.

You could still finagle it, but you'd have to expose your home machines to the Internet or set up some kind of tunnel or VPN to access it all from work.