I can't access my USB hard drive that is attached to my old TP-Link WiFi router
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Hi All,
I am very new to pfSense, I really like it but there is much to learn.I am assuming this question should be posted here but if it should go somewhere else, please let me know and I'll move it.
I did a quick search but did not find an answer (at least nothing that struck me as being the solution, but I'm very new, so please be patient with me).
Here is a quick description of my setup.
Cable modem -> pfSense router (running latest version) -> old TP-Link WiFi router (in AP mode) -> several wireless devices, two Ethernet devices, USB printer, and a USB hard drive (the TP-Link has two separate USB ports).I followed a tutorial from NetworkChuck to set up my pfSense router. I followed it right up to the point where he started talking about port forwarding; that is/was beyond what I needed to do to get pfSense up and running.
To access the USB printer you have to install and run a TP-Link proprietary software program. Unfortunately it is only available for Windows and Mac, not for Linux. This alone has me tempted to install DD-WRT on this TP-Link WiFi router, but I digress.
I don't know if this is relevant, but I do have pfBlockerng up and running (I previously used Pi-Hole running on an old Android device and it only used 2W!), Snort and Zeek.
So far so good, except that I cannot access my USB hard drive.
I try to access it by going to Network and then clicking on the TP-Link icon.I get an error message (please see attached image, I've erased the IP addresses and MAC address).
If I understand this correctly, when I try to access the USB hard drive, Windows 10 tries to access it by going to the IP address assigned to my old TP-Link WiFi router and uses port 8200 (I don't believe that is the default port that is open).Please note that the IP address list in the address bar followed by the :8200 is my TP-Link, while I'm not certain what the IP address listed beside "Generic DNLA 1.5" is, it is nearly identical to that of the TP-Link, differing only by the last three digits. Could that second IP address be the USB hard drive (I did say that I am new to all of this)?
When I try to access that second IP address I get nothing.
I am hesitant to just start opening ports, first because I hear that's something to be avoided, secondly, because I really don't have the experience to feel comfortable doing it (at least blindly).
Any help that you may provide will be greatly appreciated.
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@Neoveo pfsense has nothing to do with devices on the same network talking to each other. If your clicking some icon in your network on your PC that would be some discovered device. What you show is a DLNA, which is an auto discovery thing for streaming media.
The really has nothing to do with access storage shared.. Unless what your trying to do is stream a movie or something off the harddrive?
Storage - this is prob what your after
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/253/
But again pfsense really has nothing to do with you accessing a file share on some device when the devices are in the same network.
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@johnpoz thank you for your help.
I did actually use the TP-Link instructions to set up the USB hard drive. The one you posted is for a different TP-Link than the one I have, but none the less, I did use the official TP-Link instructions.I should have noted that I did have the USB hard drive set up and it was usable before I got a pfSense router.
Now that I have a pfSense router and my TP-Link WiFi router in AP mode, I am no longer able to access the USB hard drive, although I am still able to access the USB Printer.
To be sure, I removed the USB hard drive from Windows 10 since I could no longer access it, and I tried reinstalling it. I get as far as the TP-Link icon in the Network folder, but then I get the error message that I post a screenshot of above.
When I try to access it, I can't, the lock in the image above has a red line through it and when I click on it, it says "connection not secure".
Any ideas what could be causing this?
I don't know if this is related or if it helps, but while I do have working internet, both of my Gateways show as being Offline with 100% packet loss.
file:///home/neo/Pictures/Gateway2.jpg -
@Neoveo well if your gateway was down, you wouldn't have internet.. Did you set it always to be up even when it doesn't answer ping?
But going to say this yet again.. Pfsense has zero to do with device talking to each other that are on the same network... If you can not access some file share off a device on the same network - this has zero to do with pfsense, zero!!
Pfsense is not even aware of 2 devices on the same network talking to each other - its just not how networking works..
So unless you setup some bridge or something and one device is on the other side of the bridge - pfsense is not evolved in them talking to each other..
Lets say pfsense is 192.168.1.1 - believe this is the default.. And you have some device at 192.168.1.x wanting to talk to 192.168.1.y - pfsense has nothing to do with that conversation. It couldn't even prevent it if wanted too..
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The gateway is set to whatever the defaults are.
If it's not pfSense (I 100% believe you), then what could it be that is blocking access to that usb hard drive?
What would be causing the "connection not secure" message? -
@Neoveo well if its default setup, and you say you have internet it sure isn't going through pfsense.. Because the gateway would be offline if didn't answer ping.. And it wouldn't route traffic through it if gateway was down.
So I would assume is your not setup like you think you are. And possible your other router is not actually in AP mode, etc..
if pfsense thought its gateway to the internet was down, then you wouldn't have internet through pfsense..
Do you have some other gateway on pfsense? From the pfsense gui, go to diagnostic and ping say 8.8.8.8, and also do a tracert..
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@johnpoz I just tried that and get very similar results.
I have not posted a screen shot because I am unsure which information should be removed prior to posting.My TP-Link is definitely in AP mode.
pfBlockerng is working on my pfSense box, ads are being blocked.I have connected my pfSense router LAN to my TP-Link LAN (not WAN, this is according to the official TP-Link instructions).
For my TP-Link router, you have to give its LAN an IP address that lies within the range of your pfSense router, then you disable the DHCP Server feature, then you connect LAN to LAN.
And voila, your TP-Link is now an access point, leaving the hard core routing function to pfSense.Before I put my TP-Link in AP mode, I connected my pc to my pfSense router and I had internet connection as well.
If my internet connection was not going through my pfSense router, pfBlockerng wouldn't work, would it?
I have no idea what is happening with the Gateways.
I am very new to pfSense and greatly appreciate any help that is provided.
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@Neoveo said in I can't access my USB hard drive that is attached to my old TP-Link WiFi router:
And voila, your TP-Link is now an access point,
And connect it to your network via one of its lan ports vs its wan port. Yup that is how you can turn any wifi router into just an AP.
I see you have some other thread about your gateway issue. But your internet being down or up, doesn't matter for local access..
So one last time - devices on the same network have nothing to do with pfsense.. Nothing.. If you can ping your tplink, or access its gui then you can talk to it..
Here is how networking works... You have a device 192.168.1.x on a /24 which means anything 192.168.1.1 to 254 is on its network, with the .255 being the broadcast for that network, and the .0 being the network or wire..
So a device says hey I want to talk to 8.8.8.8, well that is not on my network.. Need to send that to my gateway (pfsense) so it arps for the mac of its gateway 192.168.1.1 - and sends the traffic to that mac address with a destination of 8.8.8.8... Pfsense being the router says oh, that is my mac address let me look at the traffic - oh that wants to go to 8.8.8.8 let me route it.
Now when said device says hey want to talk to 192.168.1.Y - it says oh that is on my network, let me arp for it, oh here is its mac.. And send the traffic to 192.168.1.Y via that mac address. Pfsense is not involved..
if you can access this tplink gui and ping it.. Then clearly you can talk to it - so accessing any file shares that device might be sharing - has nothing to do with pfsense.. Unless your trying to access it via some fqdn that pfsense provides, pfsense is not involved in you talking to some IP address that is the same network.. Pfsense is the router/firewall to get off a local network and to some other network, be that local or out on the internet. Pfsense dhcp server might hand both of these devices their IPs, but once they have IPs pfsense has nothing to do with them talking to each other..
If your file sharing is not working - its not a pfsense issue.. Maybe your tplink only shares via smb1 and your pc is only wanting to use smb2 or 3.. Windows did turn off smb1 while back..
So your trying to access this file share how exactly?? Some old link on your pc network browser? That maybe points to the tprouters old IP? You should be able to access your share directly with smb:\ipaddress or just \ipaddress in windows..
just directly access \ipaddress vis using some link in your explorer network thing..
If your using say linux you can access it with smb:\ipaddress
I would suggest you get on the tplink forums for help with their file sharing stuff.. I would be happy to help but I do not have a tplink router with file sharing to play with.
seems the forum removes the double \ those above examples are with double , see my screenshot of how I can access my nas file shares with just the run command and its IP address.
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@johnpoz thank you for your help, I do appreciate it.
Well two things, first, I got my gateway sorted out (at least for IPv4), secondly, I did finally get access to my USB hard drive that is connected to my TP-Link wifi router.
I followed the instructions provided in this short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoAV7CZcHgU
Now I still have the TP-Link icon under the Network folder and it still is unaccessable, however, I do have my USB hard drive listed elsewhere and I can access it just fine!
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@Neoveo said in I can't access my USB hard drive that is attached to my old TP-Link WiFi router:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoAV7CZcHgU
And what did I say to do in the above post ;) hahahha
from the video
From my post
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@johnpoz well when I used the IP address of my TP-Link wifi router, it failed to work.
It wasn't until I did ran ipconfig and saw a different IP address and used that that it actually worked. -
@Neoveo said in I can't access my USB hard drive that is attached to my old TP-Link WiFi router:
saw a different IP address and used that that it actually worked.
And what IP would that be if your tplink is sharing out the usb drive.. Did it create a different IP for the share - that makes no sense..
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@johnpoz that's what I've been saying all along, when I try to access the USB SSD, if I use the TP-Link icon found under "Networks" in Windows 10, it tries using the IP address of my TP-Link router followed by ":8200" and it fails to connect.
It tells me that the connection isn't secure and simply will not connect.
If I try using smb:\IP-address of TP-Link, it won't work in Windows 10, it does work in Linux though.If I go to a browser and type in the IP address of my TP-Link router, I can connect no problem.
When I watched the video, that I posted above, it said to use the command ipconfig to get the IP address and use that.
That did and does work.
That IP address is very similar to the TP-Link IP address, except for the last three digits.Can I explain to you what is going on or why this works? Nope.
Am I happy that it does work? Yep! -
@Neoveo said in I can't access my USB hard drive that is attached to my old TP-Link WiFi router:
If I go to a browser and type in the IP address of my TP-Link router, I can connect no problem.
that is exactly what I told you do to, and exactly what that video said.. But then you said it was a different IP..
File shares are not on port 8200.. That is your minidlna running on tplink.. You just need to connect to the IP of the tplink via smb, which would be port 445.. You don't need to call that out, doing a run \ \ IPaddress will do it, or smb:\ \ IPaddress.
None of which has anything at all to do with pfsense.
No duh you wouldn't be able to run ipconfig on the tplink, its a not a windows server..
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@johnpoz I did not select :8200, that is what Windows 10 automatically chooses and I have no option to edit or otherwise modify that.
I never said I ran ipconfig on the TP-Link wifi router; I ran it in Windows 10 Command Prompt, just like they showed in the video.
And yes, the IP address that I have to use in Windows 10 to connect to my USB SSD is different than the IP address that I use to connect to my TP-Link wifi router.
When I say connect to my TP-Link wifi router I mean access to it's OS, where I can change the settings like wifi password. Connecting to my TP-Link wifi router with it's IP address does not grant me access to the USB SSD; I can see that it's connected, but can't read or write to it.
In Linux, that is a different story, as I mentioned above, I can use sbb://IP-address-for-TP-Link and all is good.
In Windows 10 I have to use a different IP address (where the last three digits are different).Anyway, I am thankful that I am now able to access my USB SSD.
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@Neoveo said in I can't access my USB hard drive that is attached to my old TP-Link WiFi router:
In Windows 10 I have to use a different IP address (where the last three digits are different).
Sorry but that makes no sense.. Lets say tplink had 2 ips - why would both of them not work.. Are you trying to connect to its old wan IP? Or its lan IP?
Why don't you show the IPs your connecting to.. They are rfc1918, they are useless to anyone out on the internet.
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@Neoveo said in I can't access my USB hard drive that is attached to my old TP-Link WiFi router:
I ran it in Windows 10 Command Prompt, just like they showed in the video.
That was the machine with a file share.. And how to find the IP to connect to from another machine..
I am glad you have it sorted and can access your usb share..
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I had an issue where none of my devices could see my wireless MFP. I had to create a DNS resolver host override entry for it and it fixed everything. I have one for my NAS and one for my MFP. I also run SMB on a raspberry pi but it's accessible on everything.
I don't know if your printer needs the same thing.
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@JonathanLee which has nothing to do with accessing a smb share via the IP.
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@johnpoz my Raspberry PI I run a Samba share, I never had to make any ACLs for it as it hits the bridge mode AP I guess and that resolves when items ARP out to it. I don't understand why my MFP needed a host override, no matter if it was turned on or not, it needed one to use it. My airport extreme has a USB drive that was slow until I added a host override for that also. Weird right?
https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-samba/
