Connecting my Synology NAS (DSM 215J) & TP Link Power Line (AV 200)

[Crashmoe]

Hi I do hope I can get some assistance either from VF or maybe from members.  I am a a senior citizen who has been enjoying the use of a Synology NAS for some years as a file server for my PC as well as a media server for my TV.  Joined VF yesterday and the the  internet and router are running fine, however I am now unable to connect to either my NAS or a TP Link Power Line AV200 which serves  Media to the TV in the Den.  Discovering this forum I can see that I am not the first who may have had some issues.  However, in my case I am not technically capable of understanding all the issues which I have seen raised on this and other forums.  Is there anyone who can spell it out (or an online source) so I can understand what settings I need to set up on the connect router in order to see these 2 devices.  I have just discovered "expert mode" and am scared witless!  I can see that my NAS and the VF router appear to have the same IP address but port forwarding???, DCHP???? etc etc are beyond me ken!

[MrWhite]

You said that the NAS and router have the same IP address?  If that's the case, you're certainly going to get conflicts.  By default the router will have an IP address of 192.168.1.1.  With your NAS, you'll either have to change its static IP address (ideally to one thta isn't goin to be used by another device, e.g. 192.168.1.100) or change the settings on the NAS so that it picks up an IP address automatically.

How are you normally connecting to the NAS?  

[Crashmoe]

Sorry for the delay and thanks for replying.  I am aware of the IP clash and have now asked for and received a static IP address from VF.  I have been in touch with the support team and have at teir suggesttion  completed a hard reset and now at least I can see the NAS on the overview, but I cannot accesss it at all,  T answer your Question I use a dedicated piece of software (Synology assitant) that should discover it on the LAN or alternatively a generic web assistant (http://find.synology.com/)#  that should also be able to find it  A third method is is the quick connect where the .url is XXXXquickconnect.XXX None of the methods appear to work.. I am on a steep learning curve and now have had a look at the router event log which appeares to be enbling / disabling all the time also get messge "Gateway Unreachable"  It also suggests there a 7(!) devices connectd on the Lan when there is only 3 and of which I can only see two.  Issue is in the process of being escalated to the Glasgow techies.  Please let me know of any suggestions - Will keep posting progress - if any.

[Crashmoe]

By the way cannot change the IPon the NAS as I cannot get to the software - classic catch 22 !

[florca]

Hi - I'll try to help but this may get a little technical!

1) Getting a "Static IP" from Vodafone won't help you at all I'm afraid (although I'm quite impressed that you managed to get one, as many others have tried and failed!).  What they will have given you is a Static IP for the WAN side of the router, whereas what you need is to change the LAN IP address of either your NAS or the Vodafone Connect Router.  On balance I would suggest that you try to change the IP address of the NAS, as others have reported that the Vodafone Router can get very (even more...) unpredictable if you try to change its LAN address.

2) If you still have the "old" router then the simplest way to change the NAS IP address is to unplug both the NAS and a PC (or Mac) from the VF router and connect both via Ethernet (RJ45 / CAT5(E)) cables to your old router (you don't need to and should not connect this router to the xDSL WAN port / BT NTE socket). You should then be able to see the admin interface of the NAS, which should give you an option to change its Static LAN address - I suggest setting it to 192.168.1.254 unless this is already in use for something like a WiFi Access Point or other static device.  Once changed you can then plug everything back into the VF router, whereupon the IP Address conflicts should be resolved.

3) If you don't still have the old router then you could connect an Ethernet cable directly between the NAS and PC RJ45 ports, having first set the PC (or Mac) to use a Static IP address rather than having one assigned by the Router dynamically (using DHCP..). If you say what type of PC or Mac you're using and what Operating System version (eg Windows 10, Windows 7, OSX) then I can briefly describe how to do this. Configure the PC with an address of 192.168.1.250 and a Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0 and you should be able to see the NAS admin interface.

Hope this is helpful....

[florca]

PS - It's surprisingly difficult to find a simple guide to home networking concepts on the Internet, but a quick search reveals this - maybe a bit more than you really need to know, but quite a good attempt I think?

https://web.stanford.edu/dept/its/support/techtraining/techbriefing-media/Building-Home-Network-7240...

[Crashmoe]

Great! Thanks Never too old to learn! A little night time reading!

[Crashmoe]

SIr, You are gentleman and a scholar.  I will get onto your suggestions over the weekend (which surprisingly I think I can understand the reasoning behind them!)  

Many thanks for your help, will hopefully revert in a couple of days with an update

[Crashmoe]

Hello Tried as you sugegsted and can at least see the NAS on the old router and can get into it and retrieve some important files etc.  Most grateful.  But can only do this when the PC is also not connected to the internet via the VF router(??), however not been able to change its ip unless on internet (for some reason)  Catch 22 again my os is windows 7 pro and I am on a Toshiba Laptop (connected thorugh a docking station (or port expander). I would appreciate any further assistance you could provide but VF level 2 suggested there is a problem with the router and are sending out a new on(??)  I dont agree it is more likely to be at their end.  Howevere I must also say that I am pretty much certain I am on my way back to my old ISP as I am not inlcined to spend much more time on this.  BTW got me credentials from them so I could possibly use another router (if I knoe how!0  Thanks again

[florca]

Hi - you really don't want to be connected at the same time and (I assume) using the same address range to both old and new (VF Connect) routers! If, as suggested, connecting the NAS and PC to the old router via Ethernet cables then switch of the WiFi in all three (old router, PC and NAS) to avoid everything getting very confused...

Order of play should be:

1) Disable WiFi on PC, old router and NAS (and maybe on VF router as well, just to be sure?)

2) Shut down NAS, old router and PC

3) Connect Ethernet cables from each of NAS and PC to old router (and nothing else!)

4) Power up old router and let it fully initialise

5) Power up NAS and PC and log into PC

You should then have full visibility of NAS Admin interface and be able to change its Static IP address as suggested in earlier post. Having done this

6) shut down NAS, old router & PC

7) connect back up to VF router (via cables) Power up PC and NAS and re-enable WiFi if used.

all should now work... Don't see why VF want to send you another router, but hey-ho!