Hi, I’m trying to use an ethernet cable to connect a My Book Live direct to a win-7 64-bit system that is already linked to a wifi hotspot. It senses the cable and calls it a local area network without internet access, but I can’t find a way to pull up the hard drive. Can this be done?
I bought this drive about a year ago without reading the fine print… I had the impression that these “wifi drives” had their own wireless built in! So it was a disappointment to realize it needed to connect to a router - and my wireless hotspot that I use as a router has no ethernet port. I set it aside thinking eventually I’d figure something out… so can anyone give me any advice? I actually do have a router lying around, but I don’t think I can simultaneously connect to two wireless routers, right? The computer in question is a cryptocurrency mining rig, so I need it to stay connected to the wifi hotspot 24/7.
I just had a further thought. If there is no reasonable way to directly connect the My Book HD to computer via ethernet, what about the possibility of removing the HD from the case and installing it as an internal hard drive in my computer? I’ve never installed an internal HD, and I know it would void the warranty, but at this point I’d be willing to consider it if I had a clear set of steps to follow. (Removing it is probably easy, I’m just not sure what I’d have to do putting it into the computer and configuring it. I have an SSD on the system in question, but no internal HD.
It is possible to connect the MyBookLive to the computer directly and use it from the computer but you would not be able to see the unit from other computers on the networks because you would have to share the drive in a way that it is visible on other devices even when the unit its connected directly to your computer.
Here is a link that will help you map the unit on the network:
I tried the instructions on the first method, but I couldn’t see the HD when I hit Map Network Drive. The only thing I see with the HD plugged in via ethernet cable and power up, is a Local Area Connection in the Network and Sharing Center, that is listed as “Unidentified Network.” Does anyone have a suggestion how I can force the system to recognize there is a hard drive present to connect to? I ran diagnostics on the connection but nothing happened.
This is not a Wifi drive, it is a network drive, just make sure you understand the difference. Also, NAS stands for Network Attached Storage
In order to connect it directly, you would need to set both, MBL and laptop to static IPs
Yes, you can connect two routers together. However, only one will have the internet connection while the other would act just like a switch. Google for this and there will be plenty of options.
I run most of my network through DLink power plugs, which are basically plugs with ethernet sockets. they are reasonably cheap & offer really good transfer speeds. If I am redoing my hard drive or updating movies on it I find the transfer times are a lot quicker.
