New user connection help please

I have a mycloud I have not connected or used in several years. I can’t be sure but I strongly suspect my mycloud OS is no newer than 2.0. Maybe 3.0 but no newer.

When I first used it, I hard wired it with an Ethernet from my modem to a Netgear Ethernet switch and then from there to the mycloud with another Ethernet cord. I have internet from ATT via DSL hard wire. At the time, all my gear, incl my Dell desktop running Windows 10 and my ATT modem, hard wired to their wall socket with its own Ethernet cord and conventional phone cord, was all in my home office.

Since I last used it, I have physically rearranged my home. I had to move the desktop downstairs so my wife could use it without climbing stairs which she can’t do safely anymore. So it is no longer physically possible for me to connect my modem(which I rent from ATT and MUST connect to an Ethernet connection in one room only) and my desktop computer, which is now in a completely separate room. Am I totally unable to use the mycloud at all in this physical situation? :scream::scream::scream:

I do have a good wifi signal in the current computer room but I can’t tell if I MUST connect my mycloud to my computer. That simply isn’t possible if I MUST also connect the mycloud to the ATT modem.

I stored many years of travel pics on it originally. I intended to set it up so family members could share and see them but I never finished and then the hardware relocation became RP necessary and I never reconnected it at all. Now I want to see the pics, but that’s all. Is there a way I can connect it directly to the desktop and use it simply as an external hard drive? When I had it set up originally, it did show up as drive Z so maybe I could still use it that way if I knew how to wire it all together except for connecting it to the ATT modem upstairs!

As you see, I’m no techie! I could use all the help I can get!

Thx.

Tom

@tomseeley
This is what I just did to my 1st generation WDMYCLOUD. It’s still connected to my new router.

WDMYCLOUD 1st Generation now on my Network only - My Cloud OS 3 Personal Cloud Storage / My Cloud - WD Community

If you have more questions let me know.

If you have run out of network ports on the ATT provided modem/router you can buy a network switch to add additional ports. You would connect that network switch to the ATT modem/router then connect the My Cloud to that network switch. Most ATT provided modem/routers will have four networking ports on them for a customer to connect their equipment to. If you do not have enough power recepticals one can buy a power strip to increase the number of outlets to plug the ATT modem/router, My Cloud and other equipment into.

Yes one can directly connect the My Cloud to their computer using an Ethernet cable. You cannot use the USB port on the My Cloud to connect to a computer. One can see the following WD Support Knowledge Base article for more information.

How to Access a My Cloud When Connected Directly to a Computer
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16312

Well, duh…shows you who you’re dealing with, I guess!

It JUST occurred to me (as in, it didn’t occur to me when I wrote my original post) that I never connected the mycloud and the desktop computer in the first place! All I did was connect the modem to the netgear and the netgear to the mycloud, both with Ethernet cables.

My whole original post was because I couldn’t figure out how to connect the mycloud, which has to remain upstairs in the bonus room, to the desktop computer, which has to remain downstairs!

Now that I know how to wire the parts together I’ll do that and then see if the software on my desktop will still let me use the mycloud!

Thx for the help, and especially for your patience dealing with a tech know-nothing like me!

Thank you. I’m sorry but I’m still at the point of physically connecting the mycloud to my desktop. Until I know how to do that changing software settings is premature.

Ben or, thanks for the instruction on connecting mycloud directly to my computer with an Ethernet cord. I’ll try that.

What you described in your first paragraph is what I used to do when all my hardware was in one room. But as I said in my original post, that’s no longer the case. My modem is in one room, upstairs, and cannot be moved. To do what you said, I’d need a 50’ long Ethernet cord running along the floor in the home office, down the stairs, along the floor downstairs, to the downstairs room where the computer now is, and finally connected to the desktop computer! Nonstarter for sure! I’ll try the other way you suggested!

Is there any particular reason why you cannot put the My Cloud next to and connected to the modem/router? Does the My Cloud have to be next to or in the same room as the computer? The My Cloud can be placed anywhere one can string an Ethernet cable, and power, to the unit. There are various options for wireless extenders (assuming the modem/router is wireless), wireless mesh kits, wireless AP, power line network extenders, etc. that can be used to connect wired network devices like the My Cloud to the local area network.

No there isn’t any reason. That’s what I forgot when I wrote the original post. I forgot I do NOT have to connect any cable between the mycloud and the computer. So no I just need to find time to hook the modem, the netgear, and the mycloud all in one room and see if the wifi is strong enough for the computer in a different room downstairs to connect to it.