Help! Cannot connect to a LAN?!?!

Hi, I need some help, I’m working on a warship which has no internet connection onboard, I’ve just bought the WD MYCLOUD for my room of lads and also a router to create a LAN around our room for the hard drive to connect to, an issue were having is when we had used an iPhone to download the WD app and I try to open the files it says I need to log into my LAN with a password, however, you know when you connect to a mass company wifi and it’s an open network that then pops up with a browser form to sign in? Well that’s happening and because I have no internet I can’t log in, but if I try and go outside and use my 3G the log in form disappears, how can I fix this baring in mind I have no internet capabilities in our room?

Thanks in advance!

The WD My Cloud needs to be connected, via Ethernet cable, to a WIFI Router in order for you to be able to use your smartphone’s wifi connection to access the WD My Cloud with the WD My Cloud app. The WD My Cloud is NOT a stand alone wireless hard drive.

Edit to add: It isn’t quite clear how you have the router (if it is even a WiFi router) configured or even if the router is connected to a broadband line. If the router is not connected to a broadband line then you will not get remote access to the WD My Cloud from outside your WiFi network.

In regards to your advise, I have a wifi compatible router connected to the hard drive via Ethernet cable however the router is not connected to a broadband as we do not have the facility onboard therefore we are using a wifi compatible router as a local area network only, connected to hard drive via Ethernet cable, the issue were having isn’t connecting to the wifi or not having the device show up, it’s actually “logging in” to the wifi via this pop up form that needs Internet to load, this is the most simple I can write it so I’m sorry if I haven’t done very well :') regards!

Sambradshaw95 wrote:
In regards to your advise, I have a wifi compatible router connected to the hard drive via Ethernet cable however the router is not connected to a broadband as we do not have the facility onboard therefore we are using a wifi compatible router as a local area network only, connected to hard drive via Ethernet cable, the issue were having isn’t connecting to the wifi or not having the device show up, it’s actually “logging in” to the wifi via this pop up form that needs Internet to load, this is the most simple I can write it so I’m sorry if I haven’t done very well :') regards!

Ahh so the problem is accessing the WiFi. Sounds like the wireless router is configured for or you are trying to access the “guest” network that requires one to enter a username/password on a guest page before the router will allow access. Check the bottom of the wireless router to see if there is any user name/password information listed there. Typically there is a SSID name, wireless password and administration user name/password. Sometimes the guest network name/password will also be listed there.

The other option, depending on access to the wireless router and its configuration is to log into the router’s administration page and reconfigure the wireless access so it doesn’t require a popup form to access the local network.

It is generally recommended to do the initial configuration of a wireless router/gateway and the WD My Cloud through a computer that is wired via ethernet directly to the wireless router/gateway. This way you bypass any issues with WiFi like a popup authentication page.

Yeah that’s what’s happening and there is two passwords listed and an SSID one password says it is for MacBook connection and one for windows connection however I am using a MacBook and that password didn’t work but the windows password did work, I found that strange to start with, from there though i can access the router admin settings on my laptop but what specifically will I have to change to block the pop up login as most of the words on it seem very technical so I can’t understand what they mean very well!

In the router admin, look for ‘wireless’ settings, then look for ‘security’. There will probably be a setting like ‘security mode’, which you should set to an appropriate security level. If you trust everyone on board (!), that could be ‘disabled’, I.e. no security. If you just want it for your buddies, set ‘WPA-PSK + WPA2-PSK’, or even just  ‘WPA2’. Then set an access password (may be called an access key).

You say you’re on a warship. This WiFi network is allowed, right…? IME, unauthorised comms networks are unwelcome, as they have a habit of interfering with more vital electronics… Wouldn’t want to hear you ended up in the brig…

I’ve got to speak to the comms rating but other ships have it so we can’t see an issue, thanks for the help!