Hi yes, I consider myself a networking noob. I have only very little been dealing with networks and was wondering if any of you could assist me to access my EX2 remotely via Windows and poss Mac mapped drives. The problem I am currently running into is this. I have my EX2 currently connected to my network to my cable modem to eliminate another router coming between the connection, although I should be able to get that to work as long as I can prove the first tests to be successful. The idea is to have the users of the EX2 be able to access this from anywhere they have a network connection. Similar to a “non-sync’ing” dropbox. Within the local network the EX2 is I have no issues at all, but when I go to another location the mapped drives fail to connect. What stumps me, and I’m sure you guys will be quick to tell me if this is feasible or not and a minor change I may need to make. But when I used the ISP provided internet at two of those locations I get the fail to connect. However if I tied my laptop into my mobile hotspot thru my phone, I can connect to all shares anywhere I go. With this kind of issue what do you think the issue may be and can you help this guy out =). Thank you in advance.
I would recommend you to configure the FTP on your My Cloud EX2 drive to remotely access the mapped shares. You can refer the link mentioned below to know the steps to configure the FTP.
https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=16528
It is also recommended to configure the google DNS on the My Cloud Device through the dashboard in order to smoothly access the my cloud shares remotely.
Ah. . … yeah. . it is VERY possible to access the EX2 remotely.
There are some complications, however.
Many of these complications are the SAME regardless if you are using FTP or other means to access the device.
FIRST: I am not sure what you mean by “hooking to a cable modem”. I presume you mean that you have a combination cable modem/router device from your ISP; and that you are connected to that device. You absolutely need the EX2 connected to a router. Definitely NOT two routers in series.
SECOND: The WD cloud service is intended to resolve most of these issues for you. Using the WD cloud web access, the WD servers will deal with all the IP assignment and port forwarding issues that you will otherwise face.
The downside to letting WD do everything is that you now will have a third party involved in all your communications to the server. (yuk)
THIRD: Port Madness
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Make sure you have the EX2 assigned a static IP address within your network. Life will get complicated if your router periodically gives it a new IP address.
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You need to make sure ports are forwarded from your router to EX2. You can find hints under General:Port Forwarding:cloud service on the EX2 dashboard. I forget all the details, but the bottom line is that the EX2 has three ports of interest one for FTP (21) , one for HTTP communications (80), one for HTTPS (443) communications. You have to assign an EXTERNAL port on the router for each, and MAP IT to the EX2. This becomes especially important if you have multiple devices on your network that kinda want to default to the same external ports on the router. .
For example, say your EX2 has address 192.168.0.100 In order to access the FTP port on the EX2 WITHIN your network, the address is 192.168.0.100:21:
- You need to know your WAN address of your router on the internet. There are ways to find this. You can also get free DNS services to perpetually find the router if your ISP changes your address. (I use one provider by my router manufacturer, ASUS).
SO: Let’s say your Router WAN address is 24.1.1.50.
SO: Let’s say your EX2 lives on 192.168.0.100 in your network.
SO: Let’s say you port forward external port 8500 to your EX2’s 443 HTTPS port;
To access the service from anywhere in the world; you would enter 24.1.1.50:8500 in windows explorer to access the EX2. Then Windows (or your software) should prompt you for username and share passwords.
Fourth: Hotspot from the phone: OK. . if you have a pure hotspot; I don’t know how you are able to access your EX2 like you are. However, if you hotspot and establish a VPN link to your homerouter. . . well. . . then your laptop is essentially on your home network and everything should work as it does at home.
Note: I would not use FTP for security reasons without first establishing a VPN link. FTP will transmit passwords in the clear to establish the communications link.
Fifth: Have a drink if this totally confused you. Celebrate with a drink if you understood any of it.
