I purchased my P2100 on March 18. After over 50 calls to tech support - Tier 1 and Tier 2 (at least 5 different Tier 2 agents) - 40 hours of my own time, over emails (where I provided endless screen shots and logs), exchanged the drive (and paid for the return), remote access is still not possible.
I have opened ports on my router, turned off my router’s firewall, setup port forwarding, set my router’s and the drive’s default DNS to Google DNS, created and deleted my cloud access email and mobile device access tens of times, etc. Nothing has worked. I have an older, single bay WD cloud drive that I use for backups and I can access it remotely without any issues. This was before the drives required Google DNS,
The system logs, which they have only now just requested, show SAMBA authentication errors with both the email address (I assume these are browser access attempts) and with just my user name (I assume these are mobile app access attempts).
I am able to access the drive using a browser and the app from any device that is connected to the same network the drive is on. I am also able to access the drive remotely one time, shortly after the drive is reset or if the cloud access is deleted and reestablished. After that, all access attempts show that the drive is not online.
Hoping this community can solve what WD apparently cannot.
Thanks! This seems pretty complex but I gave it a try.
Assuming I need to use Docker for Windows, I am unable to install because of my Windows version - not 10 Pro or Enterprise. Is there a version that runs on Windows 10 Home?
Personally, I would have avoided this hack. I have never needed an external program to make my device work. But, the MC line does have an issue with remote access, and I recently figured out the problem and it is solvable any time now. Perhaps WD Support had you use this solution, but if not, then shame on them.
Here is the solution I gave to another forum member:
Thanks Mike! I had read your solution before posting my question and appreciate your willingness to help.
Interestingly enough, I have noticed - and told the WD techs - that resetting the router, cycling the power or turning the MC service off then back on, all do seem to work… for about an hour or so. What’s really frustrating is that when it does work, the Techs claim victory. One was smart enough to acknowledge that if I lose it anytime soon, then there is something wrong. Really??
So what you are describing makes sense and your solution to it does work but it’s pretty unrealistic to reboot the device every 1-2 hours to ensure it works. And beyond realistic, it’s unacceptable for WD to not address this.
Do you have any idea what causes it and/or if WD is working on a patch?
What causes the problem the way I describe it is that the router gives the NAS the IP address (from ISP) every time it reboots there is a new IP. This is not processed by the MC until cloud access is turned off and on and the NAS checks for it. Same thing if MC is rebooted. I have been told by another member here that this is a long time issue; likely with all WD NAS products. Why WD has never fixed it is anyone’s guess. I have told them about some issues with the MC app more than once, and they choose to ignore my comments.
Why you loose remote access if the router is not rebooted is a bit strange. Maybe your router is rebooting automatically. Just keep on mind that it breaks again if router reboots, and the MC needs to be rebooted AFTER router is up and running again., or else cloud access needs to be toggled off and on.if MC was not rebooted.
I think my issue is almost the opposite of what you are describing. I actually have and then lose cloud access without the drive restarting. Cloud access is not persistent. I have not seen the port forwarding issue you are describing. My port forwarding settings (HTTP and HTTPS) seem to stay however I just noticed that both are showing “failed” for some reason. Hmmm…
At this point (with so many changes made) I really can’t even give an educated guess.
I can say, with some confidence, that since you exchanged the unit for another yet you still have the same problem, it indicates to me that the cause of your woes is not the NAS, it is something else, external to the NAS is the problem. Problems with NAS are results of problem coming from beyond the NAS itself and that the NAS is a victim of other things wrong.
Completely agree! I was 99% certain it was not the NAS from the onset. I had an older MC Home drive - the white one, mirror, 2-bay. It worked great for years and then it started behaving exactly like this one is. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time so I replaced with this better NAS and am experiencing the exact same problem. So it’s software - firmware or otherwise - on the NAS or my router, and WD cannot solve it.
I’ve also noticed that when I turn Cloud Access off and then on again, there are additional port forwarding created on my router and then the NAS shows the port forwarding as ‘failed’ until I delete them off the router. Ugh!
