Problems with connecting a NAS box to my network using Sky as an ISP

Posted by: El Guapo on 18 April 2011

I've had a nas box running on my network perfectly happily for a couple of years and suddenly the network is unable to access it. I've had the NAS box checked and there's no problem with that. However there seems to have been a change in the firmware on the Sky router which prevents the Nas box from being accessed. I got a new router from Sky and the NAS was visible for a couple of days and then the network went down and although I can now access the internet I can't access the Nas box.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do? I am at the point of changing ISPs because I'm so fed up of this. Anyone got recomendations for a new ISP if I do change?

Posted on: 18 April 2011 by Tog
I have sky with no issues up to now but then I don't use it as a router.



I use an Airport Extreme as a router/switch and it works perfectly or you could just add a Cisco switch. I just use my sky broadband box for Internet.



Tog
Posted on: 18 April 2011 by vandergraafuk
Start with some basic networking troubleshooting. Can you ping the NAS's IP address. If yes then we can safely say at a low level we have connectivity. At this point the issue be at an application level. I don't know what os your nas is running. But it does seem coincidental that a new router has been installed and it's now not on the network. On some firewalls there are settings that only allow devices to talk if they go throughout the router. It may be a simple check box. Have you browsed through the web configuration pages of the router. What will be helpful if you can give us the make and model of the sky router and firmware versions. It's a start.
Posted on: 19 April 2011 by Eloise
Just a quick question? Are you using all wired or are some devices using wireless? Can you tell us the model of the Sky supplied router as they supply a lot of different ones over the year.



As Tog indicates, the best networking methodology is to use a decent switch between your audio devices and have a single connection from there to your Sky router. Some brands to look for are Cisco (very expensive); Linksys and HP.



Eloise
Posted on: 19 April 2011 by garyi

Sky's box will only be a basic ADSL router, i.e. you are not tied to it. If you want it sorted you could purchased yourself another one.

 

As to why its dropping off, I don't really understand why the router would be at issue. The first thing would be to see if your NAS has a helper application in order to detect it on the Network, QNAP for instance has Qfinder. Then you need to fix the IP of the NAS.

 

Before doing this log onto your router it will probably have a web address on the back, typically 192.168.0.1

 

Once logged on check the IP settings and the range that is set for DHCP.

 

Back on the NAS app set the IP outside of the range of the DHCP. You also need to enter the subnet which isusually 255.255.255.0.You will also need to enter the DNS servers for your ISP, without these your NAS will not work.

 

This is all very complicated sounding but quite straight forward and it does sound like you are getting an IP conflict going on.

 

And yes really the nas needs to be hard wired to the router or a switch going to the router.

Posted on: 19 April 2011 by Eloise
Garyi



Great advise on getting an alternative router, only trouble is Sky are very restrictive. Not only will you need to "extract" the details (user name and password) from your Sky router but you will also be breaking T&C of Service.



Probably no one has been disconnected for this, but it's not made as easy as it should be.



Eloise
Posted on: 19 April 2011 by Eloise
Maybe worth look here -- http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/fo...rumdisplay.php?f=161 at the Sky Broadband forum on DigitalSpy boards.
Posted on: 19 April 2011 by Guido Fawkes
Originally Posted by Tog:
You could just add a Cisco switch. I just use my sky broadband box for Internet.

Tog

+1 or HP switch

Posted on: 19 April 2011 by garyi

It might be an IP conflict if this is the case the switch won't help. Its the router dishing out the IPs.

Posted on: 19 April 2011 by Guido Fawkes

Yes that is true, but if one of the components has a manually configured IP address then most DHCP servers will attempt to offer this address to something else unless they are told not to. My Juniper router will happily give out an IP address that is already in use through manual configuration unless I tell it not to. So neither changing the router nor adding a switch will help in this situation. I assume the Sky device has DHCP server and it is not easy to change its behaviour, it simply doles out addresses willy nilly if so this could indeed be the issue. 

 

El, can you check the IP address of the NAS to see if it makes sense. If you could find out its IP address and subnet mask and also that of your sky router then the IP addresses should be in the same range and the subnet mask should be identical (255.255.255.0 would be my guess). The sky router will have two IP address, but we are only interested in the one that is for your internal network, probably starts 10.something. If the masks don't match then things will not work. 

 

All the best Guy. 

Posted on: 19 April 2011 by Peter_RN

It would surely be worth using reserved IP addresses if the router allows. It’s nice to know where things are without looking for them.

 

Peter

Posted on: 27 April 2011 by El Guapo

I've tried all of your suggestuions short of switchibg routers and so far nothing has worked. I

 also have the problem that I can't make outgoing phone calls. I'm thoroughly fed up of chasing Sky for support and basically being lied to and fobbed off so I've started the switch to BT, which unfortunately is going to take another week or so. Hopefully that will fix the problem. Thanks for all the suggestions

Posted on: 27 April 2011 by garyi

El, you might have jumped into the fire there

 

I nearly went with BT infinity last month but they screwed me on the install date so I binned it before they even started and went with virgin. They are not without issue and frankly they are mostly as bad as each other.

 

For people out there who are competent in setting up their own router I highly recommend UKFSN for an ISP, excellent support via their partner entanet and rock solid in my experience.

 

What is important for people to understand is that with any ISP that needs a BT line in order to deliver service to you, you are not tied to their router. This is just bundled with the package as an incentive, its just an ADSL router.

 

There is a wealth of top quality ADSL/Modem/Routers out there. At the top of the tree in my opinion is Draytek. Specifically the 2820 series. All you need from any ISP is a user name and password, they will send you this when you sign up. Type them in the relevant boxes of your new router and you are set.

 

I cannot emphasize enough how important the network is to enjoyment of distributed audio, it can make or break it basically. Don't spend £2k on a uniti then rely on the free crapahola your ISP sent you.

 

VIrgin is different in that you are tapping their backbone as it were so you have to use their routers. But on anything below the 30meg servcie you should be able to bridge to a good router.

Posted on: 27 April 2011 by Simon-in-Suffolk
Originally Posted by garyi:

 

Before doing this log onto your router it will probably have a web address on the back, typically 192.168.0.1

 

 

Have you been able to ping the addresses? Are you able to write the addresses on your network, ie your router, your PC and your NAS?

 

If your network starts off 192.168. and your subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 then please check the following

 

192.168.A.B

Ensure that A is the same for all addresses on your network and B is different for each device - specifically avoiding values 0 and 255 which are invalid for devices.