Question About Mapping A Network Drive Through A Switch

[MarsupialLizard]

When I have my computer and nas setup in the following way I am able to use the hostname to access the nas i.e. \\NAS\Share
PC --- Router --- NAS

But I whenever I have it in the following setup, I have to use the local IP i.e. \\192.168.1.150\Share
PC --- Switch --- Router --- NAS

I would like to know why this is happening and if there is anyway to fix it?

 

[Alabalcho]

The router separates your local network from what is outside of it. So, when the NAS is connected to the WAN port of the router, the router itself "does not care" how the NAS is called, therefore cannot resolve the "NAS" name to IP address.

 

[BuddhaSkoota]

When I have my computer and nas setup in the following way I am able to use the hostname to access the nas i.e. \\NAS\Share
PC --- Router --- NAS

But I whenever I have it in the following setup, I have to use the local IP i.e. \\192.168.1.150\Share
PC --- Switch --- Router --- NAS

I would like to know why this is happening and if there is anyway to fix it?

It's possible that hostname resolution via NetBIOS broadcast is being blocked by the switch. You might be able to refresh the hostnames using NBTStat.

More about this here or there.