Zyxel VMG3925-B10C Router and External USB HD

[#1]

Hi Forum Members

It's been a bit of a time since I've been here, almost two years, and I was wondering if anyone can help with the following problem.

I have a Zyxel VMG3925-B10C Router and I have attached an external USB HD to the router's USB port, however there is no obvious way I can access this HD from my desktop PC or any other device. I have read the router's manual and it is missing the basic (Jack and Jill level) instructions on how to connect with my USB HD and share the info in it with my other devices, e.g. bedroom laptop and, possibly, my android tablet.

What I would like, if possible, is to be able to access this USB HD, put certain data on it, and access that data from anywhere in my home. I am hoping against hope that a forum member can explain (Jack and Jill like) the necessary process, to this nearly 70 year old, how this can be done.

Any information supplied will be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance

UK Bob

[#2]

Moderator's note:
Thread moved from My Router to Tech Help

[#3]

@ukbobboy I'm afraid its not likely to be that simple!. Sharing data usually uses the SMB protocol, of which there have been three versions SMB1 , 2 & 3. The Zyxel router will (almost certainly) use the SMB1 version which is now regarded as insecure and disabled on most other systems such as Windows , Linux and Android. It is possible to re-enable it on Windows but not (AFAIK) on Android.

There's a useful post here https://community.zyxel.com/en/discussion/6164/why-can-i-not-see-my-usb-disk-attached-to-my-vmg3925-... which describes how to create a share using USB on the Zyxel 3925 but you are unlikely to be able to do what you want from Windows (without some work) and Android (probably not at all).

[#4]

@ukbobboy 

Sadly the best answer is probably buy a Synology NAS.

For what you are trying to do a single bay NAS will do.

It's not cheap but it's likely to be the best answer.

[#5]

Dear Forum Members

Thank you all for your quick replies, for which I am grateful, I will now reply to each posting in the order they were received.

1) Hi Baldrick1, thanks for moving my post to a more appropriate thread, as you can imagine, I am very rusty when it comes to finding the proper thread to place my posts. I'm hoping that in future my postings will be properly placed.

2) MisterW, the solution you have directed me to seems very interesting and, with a bit more work, may just give me what I am looking for. I understand that I will have to forego the extra android facility I mentioned before but that was more of a "nice to have" rather than a "must have". Thanks to the info you have shown me, I now have a few more ideas on how I can make this solution work for me.

Cheers.

3) Hi markhawkin, I'm onboard with your Synology NAS idea but, believe it or not, I am already using a number of Netgear ReadyNAS devices for other uses. The idea I had was to use the USB drive outside of NAS's I already use, i.e. a place where very limited and occasionally used data is kept.

Nevertheless, I thank you for taking the time to send in your suggestion, which I will keep as my plan B, but for now I will keep looking at the USB HD as a possible way to go.

Cheers Mark.

Once again fellow forum members, thank you all for your suggestions.

UK Bob

[#6]

You can access the drive from the file explorer by entering the following in the address bar

\\192.168.1.1

[#7]

Hi npr

Thank you for your reply but, unfortunately, it did not work, here's the reason I believe why:

Back when I first got my Zyxel router it would not work with my ReadyNAS devices, so I contacted this forum and was advised to modify the range of IP addresses the router could see, i.e. it can now only see from 192.168.1.2 ~ 192.168.1.253 and all my NAS devices have been working perfectly ever since.

So I naturally I went on to try //192.168.1.2, //192.168.1.3, //192.168.1.5 (192.168.1.4 is being used), //192.168.1.6 & //192.168.1.253 and then I gave up for now.

Anyway, thanks for your suggestion.

Catch you later.

UK Bob

[#8]

@ukbobboy 

Can't you just plug it into a free USB port on one of your ReadyNAS devices?

The NAS will see it as an 'External' drive and it can then be used as such, i.e. it will be separate storage from whatever volumes you've set up on the NAS.

Set whichever transfer protocols you wish to use and away you go. 

Edit: typo

[#9]

Try backwards slash

\\192.168.1.1

or

\\192.168.1.254

Also check that you have "file sharing service" enabled in the routers usb service section.

[#10]

Hi to RobPN and npr

1) Rob

Your suggestion is a good one but for now I'll put it on the back burner, I plan to revisit this after I have tried a few other things.

Cheers

2) npr

The back slash thing (//) was a typo on my part, which I had not realised I had typed until you pointed it out (possibly due to muscle memory).  However, I have been using the forward slash (\\) when typing out (copy and paste actually) your suggested IP addresses.

Anyway, I have tried \\192.168.1.254, which displayed most of, but not all, the NAS's on my network. Still, that (pesky) HD was not displayed, I guess I am missing something.

I've got a few more ideas to try but for now "life's stuff" are calling.

Thanks

For now guys, later.

UK Bob

[#11]

---

@ukbobboy wrote:

Hi to RobPN and npr

1) Rob

Your suggestion is a good one but for now I'll put it on the back burner, I plan to revisit this after I have tried a few other things.

---

@ukbobboy 

If you follow my suggestion you could then navigate to the external USB device in file explorer and choose 'Map as network drive'.  It should then appear with its own drive letter and be accessible just like any other storage on your network.

[#12]

It could be the routers usb doesn't provided enough current for your HD.
Suggest you test using a memory stick in place of the HD.

[#13]

Hi Guys

As luck would have it, that recent big MS update is preventing my NAS's from connecting with Windows Explorer, so I am now prevented from adding any new data to my devices. As this is an urgent problem I will now have to concentrate on re-establishing my NAS connections, so everything else will now have to be put on the "back burner".

It never rains but it pours.

UK Bob

[#14]

Hi Guys

It's been a time since I've been here (3+ months).

I've solved and worked around my problems, so dealing with my last problem first, that massive MS update had cut off my five NAS devices, containing all my entertainment media and personal data, from my computer network.

So, with the help from another forum, I was able to track down the solution in a YouTube instructional video, without which I would never have got back facilities the MS updates had severed.

At this point, I would like to ask if any Forum Members remember Lan Manager, Microsoft's failed network operating system (and direct competitor to Banyan Vines and Novell), 

Well, when undoing some of the switches the update had enabled, I found that some of that old Lan Manager stuff was still being used within Windows, I must admit I was very surprised.

As for my original problem, trying to get my external HD to work with my Zyxel Router, I decided that "the juice was not worth the squeeze", i.e. the effort going in was not worth the use I was ultimately after. Instead, I got myself an 8 to 1 USB Hub and, using the hub, connected both my external HD, various USB thumb drives and my external DVD/CD drive to my bedroom laptop. That helped me to move the small amounts of data I needed to, via my thumb drives, from A to B and back again with much less effort than the struggle I was having getting my ex-HD working with my Router.

Anyway guys, thus endeth my current saga.

Cheers

UK Bob