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  1. Member
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    New Zealand
    Search Comp PM
    Hi Guys


    After any suggestions on an issue I am having controlling networked media players.



    Background



    I have a fairly simple network for streaming media. A 3TB WD MyBook Live acts as a media server. A WD Live Hub is in the living room, and an older WD Live (which the Hub replaced) is in the bedroom. Because wireless was giving the occasional drop-out when streaming video, I have upgraded from wireless to ethernet-over-powerline (using Netgear XAVB5004 kits) to connect them. I also have a Nexus7 tablet, connected to the router wirelessly.



    The setup works fine. All media players work flawlessly off both their local drives and streaming from the MyBook Live. The Live in the bedroom can stream from the hub in the living room. The tablet can see the MyBook and the local storage connected to both the lives, and stream any of the content wirelessly.


    Works fine, and I am happy. So far, so good.

    The Issue

    Downloaded the WD Remote App to my tablet. I can't make it see any of the connected Lives. The devices list comes up as empty. I'm really keen to get it working because it offers some advantages over the normal remote - a search function to filter large film collections etc. I just can't make it work.

    Technical Points

    All the networked devices (the lives and the MyBook) map to the same subnet 198.168.2.X.

    All firmware has been updated to latest versions.

    I found one reference to disabling IGMP protocol on the router as a possible fix, but I'm not sure what this is and I can't find a setting for this for my router (Belkin Play Max).


    There is an alternative remote app (WDIxTV) which is similar but won't do what I want. I tried it and it won't find the devices either. But if I manually enter their device type and IP address, and select "force connection" each time, it will find them.


    Any help from the technical wizards here would be appreciated.
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  2. Member
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    New Zealand
    Search Comp PM
    Still trying to solve this one:
    - Belkin has advised that there is no way of disabling IGMP protocol on the router
    - WD Support are worse than useless. I seem to be getting responses off a script, and despite saying that the firmware is up to date in my question, I get "update to the latest firmware" back as a response etc.

    From Google searches, it appears that I am not the only person with this issue. It's really starting to annoy me now. Any suggestions?
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  3. That remote control app is WD's or 3rd party? Maybe after latest update (Hub) that remote control app simply needs to be updated too, it might be written for older fw.
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  4. Member
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    New Zealand
    Search Comp PM
    The remote app is WD's and all FW and the remote app are up to date.

    The WD forums haven't produced any answer. Have corresponded with WD tech support, but they appear fairly useless. After sending them an email describing the problem in detail - on a wired connection, I can see the unit from my phone, the FW is up to date, I get a series of useless answers that appear to be pulled off a script without even reading my email. I get once sentence responses like "make sure the FW is up to date", "try using a wired connection", "make sure your WiFi is switched on", "make sure your phone can connect to WiFi" etc. Even a cursory reading of the concise email I had sent in describing the problem should have made it clear I had tried all of those. I love WD's products as a rule, but their tech support seems truly awful.

    I have now also tried the iOS version of the remote app, on an iDevice that connects to the network fine. Same result - it won't find either of the units.
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  5. Member crjackson's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Search Comp PM
    This post is a bit old, but I'm wondering if you ever solved it. I think the problem is due to the way you draw you internet over the power line adapter. I believe if you were using strictly wireless you wouldn't have that problem. Your iPad is connected wirelessly and the remote is looking for the wireless signal (which isn't there). Anyway, I just tried mine with the app and it actually works better for me than the supplied remote. It has features that the remote doesn't provide (Netflix & streaming media volume control).
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  6. Member
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    New Zealand
    Search Comp PM
    No, never solved it.

    Based on forum posts around the web, it is a fairly common problem for people using wired connections, and is unrelated to the fact this is done using powerline adapters. It seems to be down to the way that some routers (including mine) implement the IGMP protocol, which prevents the media players being discovered on a wired connection. Sadly, my brand of router doesn't enable this protocol to be disabled. So I have more or less given up, and certainly won't buy another Belkin router ever again......
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