The Ethernet Disk Mini: Home Edition and Internet Space are devices designed around access over the internet. Because of this, they device depends heavily on internet access to function. The setup process is mostly automatic if the router involved supports UPnP, but not all routers are able to do this. Additionally, most virus scanners affect UPnP functionality, thus causing another potential problem.
Fortunately, virtually all routers allow for manual configuration. If the initial installation process does not go exactly as it should, manually set up the router. This is done through a method called "port forwarding."
Without going in to to much detail, a router will protect computers within a local network by acting as a "firewall". By default, the normal behavior is to block all unsolicited traffic from the internet. Normally, this is a good behavior, however, it interferes with the setup and use of the Ethernet Disk Mini: Home Edition.
Port forwarding is a technique of making special routes through the firewall to allow specific devices to function properly. The Ethernet Disk requires a group of TCP and UDP ports to be forwarded to it. These ports are:
- Port 21
- Port 22
- Port 80
- Port 443
The actual method to actually forward these ports is not consistent from router to router. Virtually every router brand and model has a slightly different method to accomplish the same goal. Fortunately, all router instruction manuals describe the process, and there is a 3rd party resource at http://www.portforward.com that can make this process even easier.
Once the ports are forwarded to the Ethernet Disk, the disk should function properly. Go through the setup program on the CD if the drive has never connected successfully. If the drive has connected in the past, attempt to access it via http://www.homelacie.com
NOTE:3rd party websites are not created or supported by LaCie, and are provided as a courtesy, only.
