Please Help: External HD + iBook + Mac Mini Server?

Right so I currently have an iBook G3 900mhz running 10.3.9... and have recently bought a NAS from Freecom (Classic SL 400GB) as my 40GB hard drive was pretty much filled...

...the problem I am having is the hard drive is difficult to keep mounted... everytime my iBook sleeps it loses the connection. Also when I'm uploading stuff to it, its really slow... and it can barely stream some 480x320 .mpg4 video files.

Are there any quick fixes for these?

One this I was thinking, is it worth investing in a MacMini to use as a server and plug the hard drive in to there via USB or possibly ethernet?

Any advice, or tips would be gratefully received.

Are you using the NAS as wireless network storage (i.e., hooked into your wireless router)? I haven't heard of any wireless NAS in the consumer price range that has speedy access (usually noticed when trying to stream video).

If you're using it more as an external HD on the iBook, it could be you've got a USB 1.0/1.1 port -- that would be quite slow. That drive has a USB2.0 interface that is backward compatible to 1.1.

I'm using the NAS as a wireless network storage... plugged directly in to the router... but its so slow...

The whole reason to have it is to have it wireless. When I had it plugged in via ethernet to the iBook it uploaded about 25gb of music in about an hour... whereas wirelessly it took an hour to upload 400mb.

If I were to link it directly by ethernet to a mac mini, would it be faster? I assume it would, but I may be wrong.