Windows 10: USB drive in router

I notice this topic has come up before but my symptoms are a bit different.


I have a USB stick in the port on my router. This is recognised and mapped on a desktop and two laptops. On one laptop, the drive is sometimes unavailable. Maybe for a couple of days. And then suddenly, for no good reason, it becomes available again. When it reports as being unavailable I can look at the router via my browser and see the drive there apparently connected but File Explorer still says unavailable, whether using the mapped drive letter or addressing via \\192.168.1.254\usb2. What's going on?

:)

 

Can't access network drive plugged into the router USB port.

Hi Lionel,

It seems that your USB drive is not mapped on your other laptop that's why it can't see it. For me to properly assist you with this concern, please provide me the following information:

• Is this the first time you're trying to access the USB drive from the second laptop?
• Have you tried adding or mapping the USB drive as a network drive?
• Do you know the IP address of your router?

If the USB drive is already shared, then you can start mapping it on the second laptop. Please check out the link Map a network
drive and follow the steps for Windows 10.

In case the above steps won't work, then you may have to access the USB drive using the router's IP address. If you don't know the router's IP, then you can check it from the
Command Prompt. Just type in cmd in the Cortana search, then press Enter. Once the command prompt window opens, type in
ipconfig, and press Enter. Whatever Default Gateway appears on the result is your
router's IP address.





To access the USB drive using the router's IP, follow these steps:

1. Open the File Explorer.
2. Click the Network Folder, then clear the path in File Explorer, and replace it with
   \\192.168.2.1 (or whatever router IP you have), then press
   Enter.

3. The USB drive should now show as a shared folder. At this point, you can either
pin the shared folder to Start, create a shortcut to the desktop, or
map it as a network drive. You may follow the same steps from the link I provided above.

Please let me know how it goes so I can further assist you.

Regards.

 

Can't access network drive plugged into the router USB port.

Have you tried accessing the USB drive using the router's IP in your second laptop? If you haven't yet, then please get the correct router IP (Default Gateway) and try to access it on the second laptop. Kindly follow the steps in
accessing the USB drive using the router IP which I provided in my previous reply.

Let me know how it goes.

Regards.

 

Unable to Access USB Drive on Wifi Router from laptop

I am using an **** Surfboard AC1750 router that has a USB port. I have a USB drive plugged into this port. My desktop is connected to an ethernet port on the router. My laptop (Windows 10 with latest update) connects
to the wifi network.

I am able to see and access the USB drive on the wifi router from the desktop.

From my laptop, the USB drive on the wifi router shows up as a Media Device. So I can see some of the images/photos stored on the USB drive connected to the wifi router, but not non-media files.

I use a USB dongle on laptop to access wifi. I borrowed a neighbor's laptop and connected with the same usb dongle. I am able to access the usb drive with this other laptop. I checked the settings on that computer,
and cannot tell whats different from my laptop.

I went to the router page and made sure that file sharing was turned on.

Any suggestions/advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.