Tag Archives: router

fixed : Synology and WD MyCloud NAS connection problems on my TP-Link Deco network

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Question :
I have a local WiFi and Ethernet/UTP network that has a TP-Link Deco X60 acting as the DCHP router. In that network I have a Synology DS 218 NAS and a WD MyCloud Home. All this used to work great, but even though I can see both both the Synology and the MyCloud under the Network chapter in the Finder of macOS, both have severe connection problems. Sometimes it is possibel to get connection for a few minutes, but most of the time both the synology and the MyCloud are unreachable. Even using the SynologyAssistant.app the Synology NAS can’t be found. On the other hand, the lights on the Synology and the MyCloud are burning, the Ethernet/UTP-cables are plugged in correctly…
On the other hand, my Apple AirPort Time Capsule is connectable without problems.

What can I do to make my NAS available in my network ?

Answer :
Eventhough there can hardware problems that cause this, it is usually a software problem.
Since you have a TP-Link Deco router, it is possibly a bug introduced in a new version of the firmware. Do this to fix it :

  • make sure all your network devices that you want to cable connect are connected to your network with a Ethernet/UTP cable
  • first, go to your main TP-Link Deco router
  • disconnect the power from the main Deco router
  • then make sure that the Ethernet/UTP cable from port 2 is directly plugged into your internet modem, and the Ethernet/UTP cable from port 1 is connected to the Ethernet/UTP-switch that all other Ethernet-devices are connected to
  • then plug the power cable back into your main Deco router and wait until it’s light turns green
  • then, on your Mac, open a new Finder window and click on “Network” in the menu list on the left
  • then, in the window that opens, click on your Synology NAS’ name, and you’ll see “connecting…” that will turn into “connected as:…” and you will see the folders that are on your NAS
  • this means that your Synology NAS is now available in your network
  • to check this, open the Synology Assistant app and click “Search”
  • when your NAS appears in the list, select it and click “Connect”
  • then the web-based interface opens in your browser login using the you NAS account name and password
  • when the web interface shows the vritual desktop – your done πŸ˜‰
  • to check your WD MyCloud, open the finder once again and click “Network” once again
  • now, click on “MyCloud” and wait for macOS to connect
  • the Finder will then show all files that are on the WD MyCloud
  • That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : AppleTV keeps getting new IP address continuously

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Question :

I am using the IP Scanner (and LANscan) software to check my network performance whenever I encounter network problems. I have found that my AppleTV keeps getting multiple IP addresses from my router using DHCP…

What is going on and how can I fix this ?

 

Answer :

The most probable cause of your problem is that you are connection over WiFi and the AppleTV is positioned somewhere where WiFi-reception isn’t optimal, and where multiple base stations are giving an equally strong WiFi-signal, which is causing the AppleTV to constantly switch from a connection to the one WiFi-base station to the other and back again.

There is a slight chance that you have this problem when connecting over Ethernet LAN-cable also… in that case you might have some interference or data-loss on the cable which usually isn’t problematic, but still is sub-optimal…

The best and easiest way to fix this is to give the AppleTV a fixed IP-address.

To do so, do this (in tvOS 7.4 – for other versions of tvOS the actual screens may differ) :

  • unplug the AC-power cable from your AppleTV
  • restart your router (or unplug it from power for 30 seconds)
  • plug the AC-power cable back into your AppleTV
  • turn on your TV (the one that’s connected to your AppleTV)
  • turn on your AppleTV
  • goto Settings (the app that has a Sprocket/Gear-icon)
  • in the Settings-window, click on General
  • in the General-window, click on Network
  • in the Network-window, click on WiFi (or Ethernet if you use it)
  • in the WiFi-window (or Ethernet-window), click on Configure IP
  • in the ConfigureIP-window, make a photo of all settings or write them down (because this exact info is what you are going to enter manually), then click on Manual
  • in the IP-configuration window, roll the dials until the IP is set, then click OK
  • in the Subnetmask-configuration window, roll the dials until the Subnetmask is set, then click OK
  • in the Router-configuration window, roll the dials until the Router IP is set, then click OK
  • in the DNS-configuration window, roll the dials until the DNS is set (or use 008.008.008.008), then click OK
  • then wait for the setting so be accepted while the wheel spins
  • then exit, exit, exit until you’re back on the Home screen

That’s it !

Note : if you want to be completely sure that your AppleTV has accepted all settings, you can unplug and replug your AppleTV from power, but that is not as important as it used to be in older versions of tvOS – and you need to check afterwards in Settings to be completely sure

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : internet on wireless but not on LAN according to AirPort Utility

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Question :

Lately I have had aΒ badΒ and unstable internet connection. I have a Mac and it has been working fine for years. My internet provider is Vodafone-Ziggo.

I tried to find out what was wrong using the AirPortUtility.app on my Mac, and I found something strange : when selecting my wireless WiFi-network, my internet connection is presumed working, but when selecting my wired LAN-network, I get an error message saying there is no internet connection.

If it would have been the other way around, I could think of an explanation… but having wireless internet connection from my router and not LAN-internet just doesn’t make sense…

I’ve tried numerous resets of the Ziggo-modem, of my TimeCapsule and of my Mac. Nothing helps.

Do you have any suggestions on fixing this ?

 

Answer :

Even thoughΒ you’ve tried most of the available options already, there is one other thing I would suggest to try :

  • make sure the UTP/Ethernet/LAN-cable is correctly connected into both your Mac and the ‘local network device’ (be it a TimeCapsule, a router, a modem, a network-switch or a wall-socket)
  • then, on your Mac : click on the Apple-icon (top-left on your Mac’s desktop screen)
  • in the pulldown menu, click on “System Preferences”
  • in the window that opens (“System Preferences”), click on “Network”
  • in the window that opens (“Network”), click on “Ethernet” in the list on the left
  • in the info that appears on the right, check if it says “Status : Connected”
  • if it doesn’t, your UTP/Ethernet/LAN-cable isn’t connected properly, so check all network-cables again until it saysΒ “Status : Connected”
  • then, click the Advanced-button
  • in the window that opens, click on the DNS-tab
  • in the info that opens, at “DNS Servers:” make sure that you have at least included one of the following DNS Servers : 8.8.8.8 (Google), 8.8.4.4 (Google), 208.67.222.222 (OpenDNS) and/or 208.67.220.220 (OpenDNS)
  • if none of those DNS Servers are listed yet, add them by clicking on the +/Plus-button bottom-left
  • then click on the Proxies-tab (of the elongated TCP/IP-button)
  • in the info that opens, make sure to remove the check-mark at both “Web Proxy (HTTP)” and “Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS)”
  • in case both were already switched OFF, I would suggest to switch both of them to ON
  • then leave the rest as is, and click on the OK-button
  • in the previous window that appears, click the “Apply”
  • now check the AirPortUtility.app again, and you should see that the internet connection is back up for both the wireless and wired/LAN connection
  • also check by opening Safari (or another internet browser) and refresh the page by clicking on the circular arrow in the address bar

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : use one printer in two networks at the same time

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Question :

I have a network printer on my (private) network that I would like to make available to the people on my AirPort Guest Network, but I don’t want guests to access my private network.

Is there a way to do this ?

 

Answer :

There are options to do this, but it can’t be done the way you would find most elegant probably… the problem is the restriction in AirPort Guest Networks that users can’t connect to each other, so adding the printer to the AirPort Guest Network won’t make it available to any AirPort Guest Network user.

On the other hand, an other restriction on most network printers is that they only have one Ethernet-card that is shared between the UTP-cable port and the WiFi connection, so the cable-connection and the WiFi-connection will always have the same IP-address, making it impossible to connect the cable to your private network and joining the Guest Network using the WiFi-connection at the same time…

Your best option is to connect the Ethernet/UTP-cable and/or the printer’s WiFi to your private network and creating a separate network to be used as a Guest Network to which the printer can be connected using it’s USB-cable. Since you will need an extra wireless router or an extra (secondhand) AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule to create this separate Guest Network, you can plug the printer’s USB-cable into that wireless router / AirPort Base Station / Time Capsule.

You could also use a printer server, if it isn’t possible to connect the printer’s USB-cable into the wireless router / AirPort Base Station / Time Capsule. You can find relatively cheap print servers on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.de

Regarding the setup of your networks, you will probably be best off doing it like this :

  • set your internet modem in router mode (if you would set it in bridge mode, you wouldn’t be able to connect two separate networks behind it)
  • connect both routers (or AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule) to the internet modem
  • setup one routerΒ (or AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule) to create the private network and private WiFi network
  • setup the other routerΒ (or AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule) to create the Guest Network and Guest WiFi Network
  • make sure that the IP-ranges issued by both routers are completely different (to prevent easy connection from the Guest Network to your private network (and the other way around)
  • if any of your routers give a “Double NAT” error, just ignore it

That’s it !

the only downsite is that having such a complex network setup with multiple routers will have negative influence on your (internet) connection speed ; this difference in speed will probably not be very big if you have few devices connected, but if you have a lot of devices connected that also use a lot of bandwidth (like video streaming) you will probably have slower internet speed than you used to…

enjoy !