Looqs Meebox NAS + TG582n Setup

[#1]

Hi All
Im new to the forum but i have been with plusnet for a while now and i have just upgraded my broadband to unlimited (at long last) and i has also been given a TG582n router which so far seems far better than my old one.
I have a question which i am hoping some networking enthusiast may be able to help with, because i do not have a clue, to say im a novice would be polite
I purchased a Looqs Meebox Wireless NAS quite a few months ago but never set it up (modernising the house) now things have calmed down and im unlimited, new router, etc i though i would get it out the box and have a go at setting the thing up... Well.... i cannot get it to work, i have followed the instructions, there is a hard drive fitted but when i try and fid it on my network through the router (hard wired) it si not there, it is not showing the MAC address and the Meebox set up utility cannot find an IP address it just says (DCHP) next to IP, im not sure if the Meebox is faulty or its me or there is something on the router that is preventing it showing up, i have spent HOURS AND HOURS trying all sorts, searching on the internet hasn't help to much at all..
What i am trying to achieve with the meebox is to set up a small network in the house where every one can access music, photos, etc without me having to copy them all to individual PCs all the time, etc. I also have a smart TV which i am hoping will pick up the meebox so i can display holiday snaps, etc, etc  
Can any one please offer any help and please make it clear and simple haha
Thanks
Chris

[#2]

Quote

it is not showing the MAC address and the Meebox set up utility cannot find an IP address it just says (DCHP) next to IP, im not sure if the Meebox is faulty or its me or there is something on the router that is preventing it showing up, i have spent HOURS AND HOURS trying all sorts, searching on the internet hasn't help to much at all..

I'd start by setting a fixed IP on the NAS box to check it isn't faulty. Use the 'Set IP coniguration manually' option and (assuming your TG582 is using factory defaults)
set the follwing on the NAS box

IP Address 192.168.1.63
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.1.254
DNS Server 192.168.1.254

Check if you can now see the NAS on your network by pinging it at 192.168.1.63...
and then see if other PC's can 'see' it.

[#3]

Hi MisterW
I did try that last night although i although with a different IP address of 192.168.1.80, i pinged it at that IP and it returned without any problems, but if i typed that IP address into the address bar to access the Meebox it would do nothing apart from time out and it wouldn't show up on my Ethernet connection list.
I will have another go tonight using what you have put and try and ping it from several PCs to see if it is there. I am today having the SATA HHD formatted (i have no way of doing it at home) by a friend because i have read you have to have a working and formatted HDD installed, it was formatted but going to do it again just in case. when i turn the meebox on all i have is the on button and the wifi button a light (wifi keeps flashing) but there is no HDD light on hence why im trying a re-formatted drive.
The router is new and default, i haven't done a thing with it to be honest i wouldn't know how to do anything with it well a part from look at whats displayed but to change any of the info i wouldn't dare with my limited knowledge.
so... if i can get it to ping but still shows the ethernet port as empty what would be my next step?? im trying to determine if the Meebox is faulty and wants to head towards the dustbin since ive had it ages and cant even remember where i bought it from 
Please excuse my waffle or rambling i really do not understand networking at all apart from a few basic bits
Thanks again
PS to give you an idea of what the utility looks like when it finds my meebox on the network i have attached a screen shot i took last night

[#4]

Quote from: chrisgray1980

the Meebox set up utility cannot find an IP address it just says (DCHP) next to IP

Maybe that's not a problem, it's just saying that the meebox is set to obtain an IP address automatically by DHCP. The screenshot looks like the setup utility has found the meebox, so you can press the Setup button if you want.
You're not supposed to need to know its IP address, it's supposed to be accessible by name, the admin interface is http://meebox:8090

[#5]

Hi ejs, i agree with you, and i have tried that several times but with no joy..
I have just had my HDD returned and apparently when it was formatted before (by me when i was able to ) it looks as though it wasnt formatted properly and there was no partition on the HHD (or something) so it was not working properly at all.. it has now been reformatted NTFS so i will plug it in later on and lets hope for the best that the 'needs a fully operational and formatted HDD installed before it will work' is a true statement or not., but whether not having a fully functional HDD would restrict it from showing on my network/router wired list i don not know
Thanks again, keep any ideas coming 

[#6]

When messing about with network stuff I always have a copy of Network Scanner handy.
Download link on the lower left of the page.

[#7]

Thanks Strat, i have downloaded it and i will give it a go later on, having looked at the user guide it does look a bit complicated for me lol

[#8]

Quote

I did try that last night although i although with a different IP address of 192.168.1.80, i pinged it at that IP and it returned without any problems, but if i typed that IP address into the address bar to access the Meebox it would do nothing apart from time out and it wouldn't show up on my Ethernet connection list.

192.168.1.80 ought to work but it's not a good idea to allocate a fixed IP address which is IN the DHCP range of the router ( 64-251 ) hence my suggestion to use .63

[#9]

Oh right OK, i didn't know that, i will try your suggestion later on when i get home from work
Thanks

[#10]

OK I AM GETTING READY TO GIVE UP......
I cant get this thing to work or even understand what its doing
i have fixed the IP, this allowed me to Ping it no problem....
it shows as a fixed IP on the meebox utility
for some reason the hard wired connection is showing as meebox 2 and i have no idea why or how and i cannot connect to the internet when my laptop is plugged direct to the router???????
if i windows r and run \\192.168.1.63 it opens.......
i have used the scanner and it finds 193.168.1.63 but its not the same MAC as the meebox....
has any one got any ideas what on earth is going on....
i have reset the router and reset the meebox.....
Thanks
Chris
PS now i cannot ping to it.....................................

[#11]

You seem to have two wireless networks defined, the plusnet one and your meebox. Just what are you trying to do? Typically to add a NAS server you'll want to simply wire it directly to your router and turn off its own wireless interface. Your plusnet router then handles the wireless comms.
Can you describe precisely what networks you have defined, what their IP addresses are and how they are connected to each other.

[#12]

Only suggestions but no real solution, turn off the wireless on NAS box and just use cable connection till you get it all sorted so its not interfering
Don't know if its the same through the NAS box as it would be connecting via USB but the 582n doesnt work with drives on the NTFS filesystem when connected through the USB port

[#13]

Quote from: mushy

Don't know if its the same through the NAS box as it would be connecting via USB but the 582n doesnt work with drives on the NTFS filesystem when connected through the USB port

Doesn't matter how the drives are formatted for a NAS device as long as the NAS itself is happy. The 582n sees the NAS as a network safe so doesn't access the drives themselves.
Surprising that the meebox can't format it's own drive though. That sounds very odd!

[#14]

Hi
To be honest all I wanted to do was follow the simple instructions using the set up utility type in meebox:8090 and it work.... But that was just too easy
I have the
meebox to plusnet router hard wired
Laptop to plusnet router hard wired
I don't know how I can turn the meebox wifi off when I can't access it and there no button? But I'm not connected to the meebox wifi
The network u see as meebox 2 is my hardwired from laptop to plusnet router, why it has anything to so with the meebox I've no idea but it won't allow me Internet connect now when I plug in hard word so hence why I has wifi on to post on the forum..
An I doing something wrong? I have factory defaulted the router and rest the meebox a million times to try and start from scratch but that doesn't solve anything... My laptop still thinks its hard wired to the meebox and I've no idea how to get it to forget the meebox ...
I'm full of rage at the moment lol... Like I said I'm just plain thick with networking so treat me like I'm in primary school, a dimes guide would be to complicated for me on this lol
Thanks for your patience

[#15]

Ok. I don't know the meebox so well have to feel our way. Generally whenwe troubleshooting you want to keep things simple. You've got your meebox wired to your router and you've hard coded the 192.168.1.63 address, yes? So, unplug your laptop from the router and connect via its wireless only if that gets you Internet access. Make sure you're using the plusnet SSID rather than the meebox one. That way each device has only one network interface that we're using.
Now, can you ping both your router 192.168.1.254 and the meebox 192.168.1.63?