Access NAS without desktop app

I feel like I’ve read hundreds of posts and I’ve reviewed pages 113-114 of the manual, and I’ve looked at port forwarding etc. but so far, I’ve found no answer to what seems to be a simple problem:

When I log into my drive remotely, and I click on view shares, I’m taken to a screen that says I need to download the desktop app.

After reading all of this information, I feel like I must be missing something simple.  If anyone can point me in the right direction, or provide some insight, I sure would appreciate it!

Mike

From outside the network, which is where I am guessing you are trying to access from, I personally prefer to connect via FTP, which creates a direct connection. I  do not like to install WD software, which uses a relay service going from your outsde machine to their relay server and then to your network.

To setup FTP, you’ll need an ftp client software installed on the remote machine (FileZilla is an excellent free ftp client). You’ll need to forward the ftp port (port 21) from your router to the NAS’s IP address (assuming Verizon FiOS is not your ISP - they block port 21 in may areas so you’d need to use a different port than standard port 21). While doing port forwarding it’s also best to assign a fixed IP on your router for the NAS…that way the IP won’t change if My Cloud is rebooted. Otherwise, with the IP change, you’d need to update the port forwarding again. All the router changes can be done usually via the router’s web interface. If you have a second router hooked to your ISP’s router, you’ll need to forward the port from ISP router to 2nd router and then go into the admin of the 2nd router and forward the port to the NAS. The idea is someone connecting on port 21 will go straight from outside to your NAS via your router(s). Once this is setup, you can connect via ftp remotely using the ftp client using the usernames and passwords for the shares that you’ve already set up.

do you need a static ip?

Arev22 wrote:

do you need a static ip?

Can’t tell who you are asking this - me or the OP?

Thank you for the quick response.

My issue is that I can’t really install extra software on my work computer so installing an FTP client is out of the question.  I have another NAS (won’t mention the brand) and they’ve come out with mobile apps and a browser method to access files; however, I’m having issues with “double Natting” that have me baffled.  I read in reviews that WD did not have that problem, but I’ve got to be able to access files from a browser. 

mmcwill1 wrote:

When I log into my drive remotely, and I click on view shares, I’m taken to a screen that says I need to download the desktop app.

Do you have the My Cloud (single disk) or the My Cloud EX2 / EX4?   (Two and Four disks).

The EX2/EX4 do not support WD 2go (Web connection) but the single-disk My Cloud should…

I have the EX2.  Bummer, I thought I had the solution nailed!  Thank you for the insight…