Hi, I just installed my EX2 last night and all went pretty well. Once initially installed, the software update was carried out and the EX2 rebooted. On reboot it appears that the IP address changed and I could not log on. I ended up having to uninstall/reinstall the software. How do I prevent this from happening the next time the EX2 is rebooted? Please note that I am not very technically minded with IT!! Thanks Rich
retskcid wrote:
…How do I prevent this from happening the next time the EX2 is rebooted? Please note that I am not very technically minded with IT!!
I am afraid, you will have to be a bit technically-minded for some aspects of EX2. The EX in the device name stands for Expert and is geared towards a prosumers who aren’t necessarily IT experts but are not afraid to get their feet wet in a bit of tech. You can always learn things as and when by Googling. If that’s not for you, then you might want to go with WD’s more simpler (but in my opinion a much worse) product - the single drive My Cloud.
For this issue, the best thing you can do is assign a static IP on your router for the EX2. You need to login to the web management console of your router and first see what the LAN IP aka local IP (as opposed to WAN/Wide Area Network IP aka your IP as visible to the outside world) is. Then look for somewhere where you can assign static IPs (or more likely it will be called DHCP IP reservation). Then add the EX2’s IP to that list using EX2’s MAC address. Since this interface and verbiage will vary from router brand to brand and even between models from same brand, I cannot tell you more specifically where you’ll find it and what the interface or language will look like. Your best starting point is to determine what model of router you have and then google accordingly for either that specif model’s manual or other search terms (like DHCP reservation, etc.) along with the router’s brand and model. Then go from there.
Thanks for the response. I do get involved in some IT and I would say that I get by most of the time. However, this seems to be particularly technical - getting involved in routers I will leave to our IT guys. So, you are saying that unless I do as you suggest, everytime the EX2 reboots I will have to reinstall the software? That seems ridiculous! Does everyone have to do this?
Cheers
Rich
ps what seems even more absurd, is that you have to go through this out of the box, install the software, update the EX2 software, reboot the EX2, and then uninstall/reinstall the software!! There is no mention of that in the instructions!
Hi retskcid,
giving that thte Cybernut1 solution is the correct and definitive one (configuring your local router), you could try also a “middle way” solution.
Try to set on your EX2 Dashboard (Settings/Network) a static IP address inside your local lan.
I mean, if your lan is 192.168.0.x (please check before) and DHCP is enabled on the router, every device that will connect on your lan (cable or wifi) will get the IP addr provided “randomly” by your router from 192.168.0.2 up to 254.
But usually, the router will start from lower IP available.
If you set on EX2 an higher static IP like 192.168.0.253 / subnet 255.255.255.0 (if not already assigned to something else), router will be “forced” to assign this IP to EX2 on every reboot/restart, even if not specifically configured on router.
Check about your devices on your lan with tools like whoisonmylan and you will see every device connected to the lan (PC, smartphone, IPTV etc.) and is someone is already using the .253 address. If not, go for it.
This could solve easily your issue without change the router configuration. Remember to get all your LAN info (including DNS and gateway) before to start configuration with IPCONFIG on your PC (via command prompt).
These are needed in EX2 LAN IP Setting configuration.
A reboot will be needed after the config change.
Then you will always reach it (via explorer or dashboard) to specific IP you gave.
Please note that you have to assign a specific address within your LAN. If you set a wrong address, you will not reach the EX2 anymore and an HW reset will be needed. Be careful.
Cheers
Thanks guys, it seems to be a common issue http://community.wd.com/t5/My-Cloud/Can-t-access-dashboard/td-p/611281
The simplest solution suggested seems to be to change the IP address in the shortcut after a reboot - not being an IT techie I will try that first in the event of a reboot.
Cheers
Rich
If your router uses DHCP (most home routers by default do) then yes, that would be the only way to guarantee that EX2 gets the same IP on reboot every time. If you don’t do that, then basically you are leaving it up to the router to assign whatever LAN IP it finds available at that time…
I do not know your tech comfort level, but if you look around on google or in the router’s manual, you may find it simpler than you think. But yes, I understand, not everyone will feel comfy. I do recommend you research this by looking up in your router’s manual and/or google before you decide whether to try this or not. But if you decide that this might be too technical, then I am afraid there is not much I can do.
Having said that I have seen mention of a WD discovery tool (a free software download) by WD folks on this forum. I have never used it myself but I believe it can locate the EX2 on your network and spit out the current IP for you. However, if you don’t setup a static IP, it can keep changing everytime the EX2 reboots. So then you’ll have to run this discovery tool everytime and find out the current I of the EX2.
BTW, here is a link toWD’s Knowledge Base with many FAQs, some of which may be worth looking into for general awareness (plus I do hope you have already looked at EX2’s manual in PDF form to acquaint yourself with the device) → http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/list/p/526,502/search/1/kw/
retskcid wrote:
Thanks guys, it seems to be a common issue http://community.wd.com/t5/My-Cloud/Can-t-access-dashboard/td-p/611281
The simplest solution suggested seems to be to change the IP address in the shortcut after a reboot - not being an IT techie I will try that first in the event of a reboot.
Cheers
Rich
That link is for WD My Cloud product - a very different product with different firmware. Do not rely on My Cloud info to work on EX2 (some might work but many things won’t).
Well spotted! I googled WD EX2 and didnt spot that.
Thanks and noted.
And by the way, I know I am in the minority but never installed the software for this. You can get by without installing the software…at least if you are using it only within home. I have never installed it in my near 1-1/2 year of owning this product. From outside I do use FTP and SFTP but that may get a bit technical for some. But within the same network you can simply use Windows networking to access the shares you create on the EX2. Youwill just need to know the IP of the device.
With DHCP the router might be choosing a different IP address after the reboot. But many routers can be configured to assign the same IP address each time a device connects so that the same DHCP address is maintained. If the My Cloud EX2 is always attached to the network and powered up then it can maintain the same IP address.
If that’s not possible then the only safe way to get the same IP address is to manually assign a static IP address with Settings → Network and IPv4 Network Mode = STATIC
The address should be valid for the network but outside of the DHCP addresses assigned by the router to avoid future conflicts e.g. when the NAS was powered down. I used an app on my mobile phone called Fing to list the IP addresses being used.
