I’m clueless! I bought this to use as a cloud/external HD kind of thing. I will connect several iphones/pads, an android tablet, and a windows 10 laptop to this. I honestly don’t know where to start! I have the manuals. Is my network my home router? We have a combo modem/router supplied by xfinity/comcast. Is this what I plug into? What keeps anyone from reading my cloud then? We do have the home network set as whatever the setting is that makes someone have to put in a password. My apologies. I am clueless and getting old too. :laughing:
Is my network my home router?
Yes; well, your home network is provided by your router.
We have a combo modem/router supplied by xfinity/comcast. Is this what I plug into?
Yes
What keeps anyone from reading my cloud then? We do have the home network set as whatever the setting is that makes someone have to put in a password. My apologies.
Yes, your WiFi password prevents people accessing your network unless you give them the password: use WPA or WPA2 encryption, and use a strong password (long; mixed-case letters, numbers and symbols).
The ‘firewall’ in your router stops people accessing your home network from outside.
For Android file access at home, I know Cheetah Mobile’s File Manager works well. For media, use Kodi.
Don’t use the WD desktop or mobile apps for access at home: map your drive into your computer’s file system (p23 of the user manual), and use your regular file manager.
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Thank you so much.
As a new user with My Cloud, why do you suggest not using the WD desktop app? By this I assume you mean the shortcut labelled WD My Cloud (I am on Mac)
Thanks
As a new user with My Cloud, why do you suggest not using the WD desktop app?
Because it is only really needed for remote access, and lacks the facilities of your standard file manager (Finder on Macs).
It is much better to map your MyCloud into your Mac’s file system, and access it as a network drive; it will behave like any other disk drive (although a little slow). It will also be accessible as a drive to any and all software you use.
By this I assume you mean the shortcut labelled WD My Cloud (I am on Mac)
I don’t use a Mac, and I don’t use any WD apps on my desktop PC, so I don’t know what that shortcut points to.
Read the User Manual to learn how to map the MyCloud into your file system. It will also show you what the Desktop App UI looks like, so you will be able to tell whether that shortcut launches the WD Desktop App.
Hi. A few more questions. Does my win 10 laptop need an upgrade of any kind to use this? And I do want to be able to access files, music, photos from my iphone when I am not at home. I haven’t plugged the cloud in yet. Been busy and want to do it correctly the first time. Thanks!
my $.02…
Do not put all you data yet… Put just enough for you to play with it, learn how it works, how to access it locally and remotely, how to create users, shares, etc, read the manual multiple times, etc etc etc.
Once you are confortable with it, reset to factory settings and do your final config and add files as necessary.
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Does my win 10 laptop need an upgrade of any kind to use this?
I don’t know; I’m still running XP SP3… So I’d suggest probably not, although a number of users are reporting problems with Windows 10 breaking previously working MyCloud setups.
I’d agree with Shabuboy’s advice; go with a ‘sacrificial setup’ to learn how it works, then do a factory restore and do it ‘properly’.
I recently acquired a second drive, and, having learnt how to set it up over a long period on the first drive, I had the second set up and running within 10 minutes of powering it up, using a process that was quite similar to the one described by PJPfeiffer in this thread:
http://community.wd.com/t5/My-Cloud/ALL-OF-MY-Cloud-Problems-Solved/td-p/776603/page/2
Note especially his comment: “Setup software was totally not needed”.
I’d recommend the ‘Mobile Devices’ setup path shown in the ‘Quick Installation Guide’ leaflet that came with the device, whether you use a desktop or mobile computing device.
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