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mistuk

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 15, 2004
67
2
Amesbury, UK
Hi folks. - I'm stumped! - I posted this in the Yosemite sub forum, but thought I'd have a punt here too.

Just got a NAS and have the following set up...

Mac Pro running 10.10.3 connected via 5ghz wifi to router. Router is allocating IP addresses via DHCP. Works fine. Other wifi clients on the same network can see the Mac Pro fine, as can other clients directly connected to router via Ethernet.

I want to add the NAS to the network by connecting it to my Mac Pro by Ethernet. I need any device on my wifi network to be able to access the NAS, and I need the NAS to be able to access the internet

I've connected the NAS to one of the Ethernet ports on the Mac Pro.

I've gone to sharing and selected share my wifi internet connection with the correct Ethernet port - turned internet sharing on - but nothing...

It doesn't seem to be allowing the DHCP server on the router to assign an address to my Ethernet port or to the NAS.

If I disable my wifi on the Mac Pro - I can connect to the NAS server but as soon as I turn the wifi on I cant connect to it.

Any ideas anyone?
 

aicul

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2007
809
7
no cars, only boats
Not clear what the setup is;

NAS -> imac on ethernet

imac -> router via wifi

and imac has share wifi setting set for ethernet




If this is the case it does seem a little unusual.

Doesn't the NAS have wifi built-in ?
 

mistuk

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 15, 2004
67
2
Amesbury, UK
Thanks for the response....

Internet <-> Router <Wifi> Mac Pro--<Ethernet>--NAS

NAS doesn't have Wifi

The reason for setting this up in this way is that I want to exploit 1000T Ethernet connection between Mac Pro & NAS

I could co-locate NAS with router, but it's in a different room (on a different floor of the house), and then I would only be able to connect via wireless-n

Also, NAS has an HDMI output, so I'd like to have it located in the same room as the Mac Pro

hope that makes it a bit clearer....

Is there a better way to connect it up?
 

nebo1ss

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2010
2,909
1,709
The router should be the centre of your network. The NAS should connect directly to an Ethernet port on the router and the Computer can connect to the router either by Ethernet or WIFI.

The connection method you describe will not allow the Router to provide a DHCP address to the NAS. Any other devices you add to the network will also be able to access the NAS.
 

mistuk

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 15, 2004
67
2
Amesbury, UK
Would this work.....

Connect router on ground floor to homeplug

Connect homeplug on 2nd floor to another router set to 'bridge' mode. Connect NAS and Mac Pro to 2nd floor router via Ethernet?

Any other suggestions?
 

seismick

macrumors member
Oct 14, 2013
35
12
Would this work.....

Connect router on ground floor to homeplug

Connect homeplug on 2nd floor to another router set to 'bridge' mode. Connect NAS and Mac Pro to 2nd floor router via Ethernet?

Any other suggestions?

That would work. Alternatively, if your bridge-mode router has only 10/100 ports, consider substituting a gigabit switch in place of the router. A 5-port GbE switch will run ~$25.
 

nebo1ss

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2010
2,909
1,709
Would this work.....

Connect router on ground floor to homeplug

Connect homeplug on 2nd floor to another router set to 'bridge' mode. Connect NAS and Mac Pro to 2nd floor router via Ethernet?

Any other suggestions?
I don't know what you mean by homeplug but assume you mean an Ethernet cable. In my network I extend the router from one floor to another using TP Link 500 Powerline adapters, this connects to an Apple Extreme in Bridge mode. The NAS, Macmini, and TV are all connected to the Extreme with Ethernet and it also provides the only wireless in the house.
 

haddy

macrumors 6502a
Nov 5, 2012
542
236
NZ
The router should be the centre of your network. The NAS should connect directly to an Ethernet port on the router and the Computer can connect to the router either by Ethernet or WIFI.

The connection method you describe will not allow the Router to provide a DHCP address to the NAS. Any other devices you add to the network will also be able to access the NAS.

Yep agree with this. I have 2 Synology DiskStations (NAS) both connected to 2 of the RJ45 ports on the 6th Gen Apple Base Station which in turn is connected by a RJ45 cable to the VDSL router supplied by my ISP.
The 3 other RJ45 ports, on the VDSL router are used to connect via the ethernet cables to 3 iMacs. Wireless via the base station is still available if needed.
Also, my printer 1320tn HP Laserjet, is connected to the Base Station via a RJ45 cable. So all computers on my LAN (in the house) can print:) Wired or Wirelessly.
Oh by the way all the cables are Cat 6 A Spec.
 
Last edited:

monokakata

macrumors 68020
May 8, 2008
2,063
605
Ithaca, NY
I think by "homeplug" you mean an powerline ethernet adaptor, right?

If that's the case, then all you need on the 2nd floor is an ethernet switch, as seismick says. You could pick up an unmanaged switch for next to nothing, or you could pay more and get a managed one for under $100.

If the Mac Pro and the NAS are on the same switch, they'll be able to communicate at gigabit speeds with each other. But the communication to the router downstairs (and anything plugged into it) will be at whatever the powerline adaptor offers.

Is there no way to run a single ethernet cable between the floors? You'd only need a single cable (assuming a switch on the 2nd floor). There are outdoor-rated cables. I've occasionally used the "through a wall, up the outside, back through the wall" technique.
 

Yorkshire Boy

macrumors newbie
Jun 3, 2015
1
0
UK
There is an alternative. You could always create a network segment between the MacPro and the NAS, then mount those shares on the MacPro with the Server app and share them across the network. Assuming your MacPro is always on, it will do all the heavy lifting for the sharing (probably better than the NAS would) and without taking any performance hit on the MacPro.

It's a system I have implemented myself so, using an AirPort to manage uPNP stuff like VPN access and it works really well for me.
 

taylorlightfoot

macrumors newbie
Feb 16, 2010
10
0
Hi folks. - I'm stumped! - I posted this in the Yosemite sub forum, but thought I'd have a punt here too.

Just got a NAS and have the following set up...

Mac Pro running 10.10.3 connected via 5ghz wifi to router. Router is allocating IP addresses via DHCP. Works fine. Other wifi clients on the same network can see the Mac Pro fine, as can other clients directly connected to router via Ethernet.

I want to add the NAS to the network by connecting it to my Mac Pro by Ethernet. I need any device on my wifi network to be able to access the NAS, and I need the NAS to be able to access the internet

I've connected the NAS to one of the Ethernet ports on the Mac Pro.

I've gone to sharing and selected share my wifi internet connection with the correct Ethernet port - turned internet sharing on - but nothing...

It doesn't seem to be allowing the DHCP server on the router to assign an address to my Ethernet port or to the NAS.

If I disable my wifi on the Mac Pro - I can connect to the NAS server but as soon as I turn the wifi on I cant connect to it.

Any ideas anyone?

You should create a network bridge interface on your Mac Pro, then add the two physical network interfaces to the newly created bridge interface. This should essentially turn the two physical network interfaces into a 2 port network switch, your IP settings on the Mac Pro would be assigned to the bridge interface you created, not the physical interfaces things are connected to.

Example commands to set this up using Terminal:

sudo ifconfig bridge0 create
sudo ifconfig bridge0 addm en0 addm en1
sudo ifconfig bridge0 up

Of course you want to replace en0 and en1 with the actual names of the physical interfaces you plan to use. Wifi might not work well in this setup, in that case you could add both ethernet ports into a bridge and use a hardware wifi to ethernet bridge to wirelessly connect your Mac Pro using it's Ethernet port.

you may want to look at the ifconfig manual first; from the terminal type in, man ifconfig
 

taylorlightfoot

macrumors newbie
Feb 16, 2010
10
0
I think by "homeplug" you mean an powerline ethernet adaptor, right?

If that's the case, then all you need on the 2nd floor is an ethernet switch, as seismick says. You could pick up an unmanaged switch for next to nothing, or you could pay more and get a managed one for under $100.

If the Mac Pro and the NAS are on the same switch, they'll be able to communicate at gigabit speeds with each other. But the communication to the router downstairs (and anything plugged into it) will be at whatever the powerline adaptor offers.

Powerline is an option to get an Ethernet connection upstairs.
Another option is to use a wifi to Ethernet bridge as seen here: http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Unive...35204&sr=8-5&keywords=wifi+to+ethernet+bridge

Since mistuk's Mac Pro has two Ethernet ports, there's no need to buy a network switch unless mistuk needs more than 2 ports; I'd just put the two Ethernet ports on the Mac Pro into a bridge interface using the Terminal. That way the NAS and Mac Pro are communicating at gigabit speeds and other computers in the home network are communicating at the speed of wifi, or power line, or however the Mac Pro is connected to the rest of the network in the house.
 
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