Use Airport Extreme for device network storage or ftp?

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Use Airport Extreme for device network storage or ftp?

Hello,

I'm trying to setup a security camera so that it can save files to a USB disk that is connected to my Airport Extreme Gen 4. I'm really not sure if this can be done at all without a NAS drive (network attached storage). If so I couldn't find any resources to help explain about this online.

I'm using Yosimite OSX 10.10

Airport Extreme 4th generation

WiFi security camera DLINK DCS-2330L

MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.53 GHz), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Jul 14, 2015 8:25 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

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Jul 14, 2015 10:52 AM in response to kevenoco

Have you tried entering your AirPort's base station name & shared disk name in the Network storage location window, and then, tried the Test button?

Windows will see your AirPort Disk as: \\<AirPort base station name>\<AirPort Disk share name>

For example with a AirPort Disk shared with a disk password of My_Share and a base station name of AEBS, you would enter: \\AEBS\My_Share. The User name can be anything, but the Password would be the one you created for the AirPort Disk on the AirPort Utility's Disks tab.

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Answer 2

kevenoco Author

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Jul 14, 2015 9:58 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks Tesserax,

I went to Airport Utility, created a disk password for DLINK (FAT32 disk) then entered my Base Station Name as you specified.

Network storage location: \\Keven's AirPort Extreme\DLINK

my new password still doesn't make it work. I tried entering my Base Station password as well and I tried various usernames or leaving it blank too.

Maybe I need the proper Workgroup or WINS Server?

Or could I do this with FTP?

Thanks a bunch for helping me.

Keven

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Answer 3

Tesserax

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158,622 points

Jul 15, 2015 8:54 AM in response to kevenoco

Can you access the AirPort Disk directly from your Mac via Finder? If so, you know that you can establish a SMB link to the drive. That is the type of link that your security camera's set up program is looking for. One thing that I noticed is the name of your AirPort. I would suggest that you simplify the name to not include spaces or punctuation marks. Something like KevinsAEBS maybe. Also I would suggest that you reformat the drive with HFS+ instead of FAT 32.

Maybe I need the proper Workgroup or WINS Server?

No, neither of these should be necessary.

Or could I do this with FTP?

That would only be required if your AirPort base station included a FTP server ... it doesn't.

Keep in mind that the file server feature of the AirPort base station is not a true NAS. Its file sharing service is quite limited. It basically performs as a network file share. If your camera supports this then it should work.

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Answer 4

kevenoco Author

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Jul 15, 2015 2:28 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks again Tesserax,

I tried your suggestions but it still didn't work. I do have access to the disk via the Finder. I assume my camera does not support airport extreme with usb disk.

Thanks anyways

Keven

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Answer 5

Jul 15, 2015 3:30 PM in response to kevenoco

Instead of using the AE name.. try using the AE IP address.

SMB does not like some apple setups. I find it more reliable if you use IP instead.

Tesserax suggested.

Windows will see your AirPort Disk as: \\<AirPort base station name>\<AirPort Disk share name>

What I would try is replacing <AirPort base station name> with 10.0.1.1 (or whatever ip it is).

Also note that IP must be static.. so if the AE is bridged be sure to set static IP via dhcp in the router that runs the network..

You can also use this method to keep the AE on static IP.. I find this works well.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5981989?answerId=25135547022#25135547022&ac_cid=tw123456#

Fixing this fixes the need for workgroup or domain problems..

The disk share name should also be short no spaces pure alphanumeric.. the default is data which is fine.

It can be also help if you used a windows computer to create a separate shared folder in the AE disk.. again this helps keep permissions the right way around.

The disk access password should normally be set to the same as the admin access to the AE.. don't forget to change it if you actually set a different disk password.

Otherwise sorry as Tesserax says .. apple builds for apple and they don't really care much if windows or other stuff works or not.

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Answer 6

kevenoco Author

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Jul 15, 2015 4:22 PM in response to kevenoco

This worked!

I am writing files to the USB drive plugged into my airport extreme!

I do have the disk set up with a password using Airport Utility (as Tesserax suggested). The camera automatically filled 0.0.0.0 for the WINS server.

The DLINK drive is FAT32 (I think my camera needs this to write files)

My Airport Utility settings:

internet connect using DHCP
router mode is set to off (bridge mode)
guest network is enabled (needed this to mount disk in Finder)
secured shared disk with disk password

It's funny I just got a response from D-Link that I must have a NAS device to write files with the camera. An airport extreme and USB disk will not work. Lucky for me that's not the case.

thanks a bunch Tesserax and LaPastenague

Keven

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Answer 7

Tesserax

Level 10

158,622 points

Jul 16, 2015 12:27 PM in response to kevenoco

You're very welcome! I'm glad you got it worked out.

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