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Here's a few things to check, then I guess we'll be into forensic diagnostics:
I don't know the BT WI-Fi solutions, but check whether it includes a DHCP Server (note "Server" not "Client" - it could have both.) If so, disable it. Your network should only have one active DHCP Server and ideally it should be in your ISP router. If you make such a change, give it 24 hours for IP addressing to sort itself out (it'll do so automatically.)
If you already have only one DHCP Server active, then it would be a good idea to tell it to "always give the same IP address" to your MyBooks (and any other "infrastructure" components such as you BT discs.) It's highly unlikely to happen, but DHCP allocated IP address can potentially change, so best to be safe. Head into your routers DHCP Leases table (it may have various names) and find the IP addresses of your MyBooks. Most SOHO kit these days will have an option you can tick to "always allocate this device the same IP address" - again the nomenclature may vary. It would also be worth you making a note of the IP addresses as we're going to be pinging them.
Next we'll be into a realm of pinging everything from everything else to see what works and what doesn't and at the same time check your IP addresses are all consistent and you haven't inadvertently partitioned your network.
If you have a laptop with Wired and Wi-Fi NIC's, it's ideal for this sort of testing, if not a PC cabled to your router should be just as good but you'll need to find "somethign else" to test Wi-Fi. Connect a laptop to your router with cable and turn off said laptop's Wi-Fi if it has it. Then open up a CMD window and ping your router, your MyBooks and for good measure I'd ping the BT discs also.
What you're looking for here is that everything answers - the times aren't important though most should be pretty quick - and that the IP addressing is consistent. In a small SOHO LAN, everything will probably by a 192.168.X.Y where 192.168.X is the same for all and the Y differs for each device.
Then un-cable your PC, connect to the routers Wi-Fi (if it's turned on) and repeat the test.
Then connect to your BT discs and repeat the tests.
This should give you a picture of what works and what doesn't and whether the IP addressing is consistent. If all good, they you've proved the fundamental connectivity of your network is OK and the issues lie elsewhere - potentially in the MyBooks themselves.
Things to look out for (as well as anything that simply does not answer) are any devices where the IP addresses are out of scope - e.g. 192.168.X.Y where the X differs or any addressing that is completely different. Similarly any 169.254.A.B addresses - these are called APIPA addresses and occur because a device cannot "find" a DHCP server and literally "make up" and IP address to use. This would indicate the network is "broken" somewhere preventing traffic from/to clients and the DHCP Server in your router.
I think that's probably enough for one post, so let us know how you get and the results will guide how we proceed further. |
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