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Forum Discussion
New Router = Can't Find RN424 drives
My RN424 is connected to a netgear network switch (GS116), and the switch is connected to a ~20-year-old T-Mobile TM-AC1900 router (rebadged ASUS router), which connects to my DSL modem. This setup has been stable for at least 20 years, has survived power outages, etc. But it is time to move on from DSL.
I am attempting to evaluate T-Mobile Wireless Internet, and to that end, I obtained the T-Mobile Internet Gateway. However, when I disconnected the existing router and internet connection from the network switch, and plugged in the wireless gateway, the PC's on the network no longer see the network drive.
I can access the internet fine from all wired PC's (after they are rebooted) and via wifi, using the wireless gateway, but my primary PC (W10) now says that the mapped network drives are in use. I assume that the other W10 and W11 PC's on the network are the same, but I haven't checked.
I removed the wireless gateway and reverted back to the old router and internet connection, and everything is operating as it was.
I am considering connecting the wireless gateway to the old router's WAN port so that the old router, with its network control functions, will still be inline to see if that works, but I thought I'd check for advice here first. After all, I want to retire the old router as well.
I am not a network expert, although I did get this all this up and running years ago and have "managed" the network since then.
Any advice on how I can remove the old router and install the new network gateway with the least trouble possible?
4 Replies
First log into the admin web ui of the NAS and navigate to the network page. Click on the settings wheel next to the graphic. (There will be more than one graphic, the one you want is the one that is not grayed out).
There will be a pop-up with three tabs at the top. Pick the one that says IPv4 (which is in the center). If the configure field doesn't say "Using DHCP" then set it to that. Then power down the NAS using the power control in the upper right of the web page..
Then you can switch routers. After the switch, power up the NAS. After it boots, you should be able to see its new IPv4 address on the LCD panel. Make a note of that address. It will most likely be different than the IP address you were using with the old router.
You can go into the tmobile gateway settings, and reserve that address for the NAS, so it will always get that IP address every time the system restarts. (Best to download the gateway manual and look for that setting).
Then try opening Windows File Explorer and enter \\NAS-IP-ADDRESS (using the actual address you noted above, instead of the NAS-IP-ADDRESS placeholder). You will need likely to enter your NAS user credentials again. See if that opens up your list of shares, and confirm that you can access them.
Since the IP address will be different, you will need to re-do the mapped drives on the PC(s).
Thank you for the quick and succinct reply.
At present, I have no way of logging into the T-Mobile Gateway's admin interface. Although the product label indicates an admin IP address (192.168.12.1) and a password, when I attempt to access it, all I see is a high level status page (e.g. signal strength) with the IP address in the browser bar changed to 192.168.1.1.
I have no idea on what features that the admin interface may even present. There is no printed manual available online, as far as I can tell.
I had consulted T-Mobile technical assistance and even made it is as far as a supervisor, explaining that I needed to access the admin interface, and she filed a "ticket" to obtain that information and promised to get back to me on the following evening, and that was two nights ago. I'll contact them shortly when I have an hour or so to see what the status of that request is.
At present, I have no way of logging into the T-Mobile Gateway's admin interface
Is there a label that gives you the model?
Also, there is a management app you could try.
- https://www.t-mobile.com/support/home-internet/app
The T-Mobile Gateway is a TMO-G4AR. The app that you reference is the "T-Life" app which provides access to rudimentary parental controls and the ability to hide the wifi SSID, but that's all. The T-Life app is what I used to set up the gateway, which included naming my wifi network and its password.
The label that indicates the model also indicates the admin IP address and the password, but try as I might, I am never prompted for these.
I doubt that I am the first person to try to use the T-Mobile internet on a wired network with a NAS. T-Mobile has been offering "5G" home wireless internet for several years.
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