The following instructions describe how to connect the My Book Live to multiple computers via a switch and not a router.
Screen dumps are here: https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=5d0a663976001efa#!/view.aspx?cid=5D0A663976001EFA&resid=5D0A663976001EFA%21189&app=Word
The reason for doing is I want multiple PCs to access the hard drive to burn DVD’s and Blu-rays. Using a wireless connection is not possible as the maximum data rate I can achieve over wireless N connection is 5MB/s.
I’ve also tried power line adaptors and the maximum data rate I achieve is only 4 MB/S, which is insufficient to burn even one DVD at 8x.
Another option was to use a very long Ethernet cable to connect the router to the PCs via a switch but I didn’t want a long cable run through the house. So the best option was to connect the My Book Live into a gigabit switch and connect the three PC’s into the same switch. I can now achieve a data rate around 35MB/s to 40MB/s reading and writing files, more than enough to write to Blu-ray discs at 4x and DVD’s at 8x, simultaneously. Plus blu-ray ISO rips also stream without any stuttering.
Setup Instructions
Change the IP address on the MBL to be a static IP address.
I connected the MBL to the router and then connected wirelessly to the MBL to change the IP address (allow at least 3 minutes for the MDL to boot) before attempting to connect.
Open a browser and enter the following in the address bar: http://mybooklive/UI
Select Settings/Network/
Select the Static radio button and enter a static IP address which will not interfere with other devices on your network e.g. 192.168.1.99 (in my case).
Enter a netmask of 255.255.255.0
You can leave the Gateway and DNS Server fields blank.
Save the changes.
Unplug the MDL from the router.
Connect the My Book Live to your switch and power it on then connect the Ethernet cables from the PC’s you want to access the My Book Live to the switch.
If the MBL has powered on and has a solid green light you can configure the PC’s to talk to the MBL.
The next steps are for a PC running Windows 7.
Open the Windows Control Panel and select Network & Internet
Then select the Network and Sharing Centre option
Select Local Area Connection Select the Properties button
Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click on the Properties button
Select the “Use the following IP address” radio button and enter an IP address for the Ethernet port.
I chose an IP address one digit after the MBL e.g. 192.168.1.100 whereas the MBL is 192.168.1.99.
Enter the subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and click the OK button.
You can now check the PC can talk to the MBL.
Open a command prompt from the Windows Start button and type cmd then press Enter on the keyboard.
The command window will open.
Enter the following at the command prompt: ping 192.168.1.99
Hopefully you will now be able to connect to the MBL.
Insert the My Mook Live CD and run setup.exe to map the drive. You can also download the same software from the Western Digital website.
When you search for the MBL it should find the drive providing you were able to ping the drive using the above ping command. Complete the setup.
Open Windows Explorer and you should find the My Book Live mapped under Network Screen dumps are here: https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=5d0a663976001efa#!/view.aspx?cid=5D0A663976001EFA&resid=5D0A663976001EFA%21189&app=Word
