Can’t map network drive

nassynology

(I asked this before on the Synology forum, but got no answer there.)

Configuration:
– Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
– Synology DS213air NAS

I've connected my NAS in Synology Assistant, and I can see the File Station with its folders in my browser, so my PC can see the NAS alright. However, the NAS doesn't show up under "Network" in Windows Explorer.

I try to map network drive from within Synology Assistant. After entering my username and password I can see a message

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for about 45 seconds, then

enter image description here

Two things I noticed:

  1. When entering username and password only the username must match, I can enter whatever password (or none at all) and it is accepted. I do have a password set, because I can't log in with the wrong password.
  2. I noticed the NAS sits on a completely different IP subnet than my PC. Could this be the problem? Apparently the IP address derives from the "default gateway" setting in the control panel, but it looks like I can't modify that there.

How can I make my NAS visible on my network, and map it to a drive letter (either from within Synology Assistant or Windows Explorer?

PS: Until a couple of days ago this connection worked without problems. But then I got a message out of the blue that I was connected to "network 6". Might this unasked-for change in network connection have changed some settings? What do I have to look for then?

update following Big Chris' comment
In the control panel there's a field "default gateway", which, according to the manual should be editable, but it isn't.

enter image description here

(The "edit" button next to it only lets you change the service order.) Could it be that the NAS operates as a DHCP server instead of client? How can I change that?

Best Answer

Solved.

The NAS was connected to a switch which in turn was directly connected to my modem (not through a router, there are historic reasons). So the IP address seems to have come directly from my ISP's DHPC server.

I changed the connections so that from the modem I now go to a wireless router. (I'm not using the NAS' wireless router since I also want wired connections from the router.)
The NAS now gets the usual 192.168.x.x IP address from the router, and I can map it to a Windows drive letter.

(I hope this makes sense. Like I said in comment I'm not particularly network-savvy.)

I still don't understand that the old setup used to work, but suddenly stopped working for no obvious reason...

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