Emergency network Issue!

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wickedsnow

wickedsnow

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Jul 25, 2007
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Ok guys, here's the problem. My client is leaving for 1 month in 2 days and I need to fix his weird network issue.

Here's the situation.

He has a d-link-321 2 bay nas on a linksys wrt120n router. All Ip addresses are manually assigned.

He has 3 wired computers, and his nas connected to his router. all with manually assigned IP's as per his network config.

His router is manually configured of course, without issues seeing or connecting to any of the 3 computers or the nas via the network icon.

But here is the major problem. He travels all the time. He recently came back from germany (we live in the us.) and re-manually configured his ip like normal, but can't see his nas. He can see and access all the other computers, but not the nas. He can ping the nas and login to the nases bios to config it. But he can't actually connect to it. Now, I have check his workgroup, homegroup settings, wireless settings etc etc. But all with no dice.

So to make sure it was not the setup, I put another laptop HDD in the machine and installed windows 7 64-bit pro fresh, no updates or anything, just the wireless drivers.

I could see his entire network no problem via manual ip. The moment I change his wireless adapter to dhcp, then back to manual, poof! cannot see his nas, but I can see and access everything else.

Oddly enough I have the same nas at home with a more powerful wrt610n router. However my network is all dhcp. So, I re-install windows 7 again, and tried his laptop at my home. on my network via dhcp, no issues. Can see everything, nas inc. The moment I switch his wireless adapter off shcp, then back tpo dhcp, I also cannot see my nas, but I can see the rest of the network.

This is a very weird bug. Is this window 7 related? or Nas related? (we both have a d-link 321)

Just incase your wondering, the ONLY thing I change is the ip config from dhcp to manual, then back to dhcp) No domain/workgroup/homegroup changes of anykind.

I'm so confused, but I need to have this fixed by tomorrow so he can leave the country and trust that when he returns, he can sync all his data to his nas.


Please help if you can guys!
 
Solution
Saga Lout


I'm not sure whether that's just plain spooky or the best clue yet. 😀 It seems the answer has to be in the NAS' own settings - perhaps it has separate rules for sharing over depending on how DHCP is set. The router and all the other clients are fine - it has to be the NAS which is, as you say, being picky. Can you post the make and model, please?

I'd really like to bottom this one before I go on holiday tomorrow or it will be down on page 34 when I get back and I'll never know the...
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[#000ff]Being of simple mind, my first thought was why would it matter if he remained on dynamic so long as all the other machines in the network are static, particularly if he's also the only frequent traveller in the network group. In other words, I can't answer your question but does he actually need a fixed IP?
[/#000ff]
 
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In a sense yes, DHCP is disabled on his network and manual IPs are given out because only 4 ip's have internet access as per the rules and policies i setup for him.

What I don't understand is why does he loose his ability to see the nas, yet can see and use all other network computers/shares? The exact same thing happens to his machine at my house on my network with the same nas and a similar router. However, in my case, I am on DHCP automatic, yet the dissappearing nas issue still happens even to my nas on his machine when i manually imput an ip address, save changes, then revert back to auto. It just makes no sense. Does manually changing an IP change other things I'm missing?

Even on a fresh install with fresh drivers and nothing else installed, everything is fine until I make changes to his IP. Even if I UNDO everything and revert back top dhcp, it's like the nas is not there. Yet I can ping it and access the nases setup via webpage. What's changing? Don't nases and computers/printer have similar permissions and properties? Why does only one network item dissappear, yet nothing else does? This whole thing makes zero sense. Unless it's a bug with windows 7, or a bug with windows 7 + our d-link nas. Which I can't find any info on btw.
 
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And sorry for the rant, yes he MUST have a manual IP, besides bring setup that way. 3 of the 4 open-to-the-net IPs are all assigned to things that are never off. That way, with only 1 open to the internet IP available, when he is at his office and not traveling, all IPs are taken and it adds extra security to his network/ piece of mind.
 
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That's that idea out the window then. I'll give it some more thought but maybe someone else will chip in with something more constructive.


 
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Yes Derrick, that's true, but the problem is not static or dhcp IP addressing. My issue is whenever I change from one to another then back again, I loose my ability to see my nas or his on either network. Something is causing this to happen that has nothing to do with network setup I believe.
 
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This is quite odd and beyond all logic. Perhaps some details of the NAS would help. It's almost as though it also loses it's IP when you go dynamic on his machine so it would seem to be a settings problem within the NAS itself. Can you map your way to it when it doesn't appear? I assume the NAS sits beside the router and is wired.[/#000ff]
 
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Yes Saga, the NAS on both his and my network are the same model and are 1 foot away from the router wired.

It looks like theres some confusion to my issue. I'll try and clear it up.


Let's say your on a computer wired or wireless to a network with the NAS in question, 1 router and say, another computer.

Let's say the router is set to default auto-dhcp. And both machines and the nas are all on the same workgroup. For sake of argument, everything is fine. You pull up the network list and can see the router, nas and other computer.

Now, let's say you change your network adapter from auto-ip to manual and you input some numbers. You log onto another network with those settings. Great, done.

Now you want back on your network. So in theory all y ou have to so is go back to your adapter settings and change it from manual to auto-ip again. And poof! Your back on your network... However, you can't see the nas in the network list. You can see the router and other computer, your workgroup has not changed, and you switched back to auto-ip as per your networks requirements. THIS is my exact problem.

WTH changed? Is the NAS picky? Is it a bug? I don't get why this happens. It only happens to the NAS. rebooting does nothing, and powercycling the router and NAS also do nothing.

This is why i'm confused. As Saga said, it defies all logic.

My client already got on a plane and left, but I still need to know why this happens. A person should be able to be on a laptop, connect to any network regarless of it's config requirments, and come back to his/her own network and everything should be fine. I just don't get it.

I must also make clear that this only happens after switching to manual ip config then back to dhcp. On a fresh copy of window 7, everything is fine. If he joins another dhcp network, everything is fine. It's only when switching to manual then back does this happen. And I have repeated this problem 22 times already by constantly re-installing windows and trying other things. But he must switch to manual for his office network after traveling on dhcp networks.

Thanks for your continuing support guys. I'm just as confused as you all are, lol. Man I need a beer. Many many beers.....
 
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Oh, before I forget...... After not seeing the nas after re-connecting to the network, I can ping it and I can go into it's config page and change anything I want. I just can't connect to it for files or shares. It's not found? LOL
 
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I'm not sure whether that's just plain spooky or the best clue yet. 😀 It seems the answer has to be in the NAS' own settings - perhaps it has separate rules for sharing over depending on how DHCP is set. The router and all the other clients are fine - it has to be the NAS which is, as you say, being picky. Can you post the make and model, please?

I'd really like to bottom this one before I go on holiday tomorrow or it will be down on page 34 when I get back and I'll never know the outcome. 🙁
 
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Solution
LoL Saga, do you never sleep? It's almost 2am here in California. I thought I posted the model, I'm sorry If I didn't.

Both Nases are Dlink-321 2-bay.

I have checked all over the web about information about the d-link 321's, but all I get is how great they are, just slow. Nothing about network Issues.

I have searched through the settings and Logs of both his and my nases, and nothing odvious shows.
 
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If you can still access the config page and everything on the NAS it's still there, obviously.. But for some reason it doesn't seem to want to map it to the computer in question. Like Saga said, I am more than certian it's nothing to do with how the network is setup, rather something in the settings of the NAS.

Oh, I just thought of something I don't know if it will work or not, but are you changing the NICs ip settings to manual or dhcp BEFORE you hook it back up to the network? That could possibly cause a conflict if you are hooking it back up to the network then setting it back to whatever you need it to be set at. Just a random thought, dunno if you have tried that yet or not. Sometimes little things like that make the difference.

As for the beer, I wish I could have one while I ponder this situation, but unfortunately I am stuck over in Iraq until god knows when.. But luckily for you I have all the time in the world to do nothing but think of solutions, haha.
 
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Hey Derrick,

No, I can't remap the nas. It's odd that I can ping it and Access the config page, but not the nas.

As far as the network connections, yea, 90% of the time I reconnect it back to the network via cable first then I switch the IP settings. However, on the wireless side, I don't do that. I reset his ip settings back to manual, then connect to his SSID.

But why would it matter? I mean if your right and something goes bananas when I connect first then change the ip, what happens? How do we fix it even if you are correct?

FYI I had some beer last night before bed..... Hmmmm.. was so good. Today, it's all about the ribs I'm smoking for 6 hours. I get to eat them in 3 hours :)

Ribs and beer don't fix my issue, but they sure make me feel better about it. lol.
 
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