Hello members.
I have just acquired the router Asus RT-AC68U, and I am quite the newb with networking, so these are my first experiences setting FTPs, DLNA, using external hard drives connected directly to the router, all those sorts of things.
My experience with Asus tech support has been reasonable so far, but some things just don't get answered, so I would appreciate any help.
So, these are my doubts so far; thanks in advance for answers.
Number one:
Can I connect 2 different USB external drives to it? When I originally connected my 1Tb external drive, all my custom folders appeared as subfolders of a parent "sdb1" folder. When I accessed them through the internet explorer, under network, that's how they were sorted.
However, out of the blue, it's not anymore; all my custom folders show in the root of the drive, without a parent folder at all. And they still can be accessed perfectly fine, despite the fact that this "path" changed. Mind me, this is looking through windows explorer; under the Asus web-based dashboard for the router , the "samba" menu still show my folders under that parent "sdb1" directory, hinting of a path different than the one internet explorer is accepting as valid.
As I got curious, I moved the USB drive to the second USB port, and the router placed all my folders under a "sda1" folder. Same situation, different letter.
So I got curious and mounted a second USB drive to the vacant USB port, because up until this point seemed obvious to me that I could connect 2 USB drives, and I was curious as to how it would handle possible inconsistencies, like files or folders with the same name, if it was masking the full path.
What happened, though, was that the second drive caused the first one to unmount.
So, I repeat question one: can I mount two drives at the same time, or does it truly limit me to a single USB drive, despite having two USB ports?
Number two:
It's about DLNA. When I figured out I could have all my videos stored in the external USB drive, and access them without having to even turn on my computer; that I could even download things directly to this drive, I was quite trilled. Up until this point, I was using Universal Media Server (UMS) in my PC to stream to my Smart TV, with the obvious setback of having my PC on during video sessions.
That should have solved that, but an issue crept in: I must have working subtitles, because most my videos are in English, and my wife does not speak English. But external subtitles (which is what I mostly use) are NOT sent through the router DLNA; they don't show at all, even with the files at the same name and with the same folder as the original file.
I figured out that the router software does not enable transcoding - the solution I used with UMS to get subs - and that without transcoding, DLNA simply would not have that function, but this cannot be entirely true, because by coincidence I tested the one file I have that has embedded subs, and THESE do show up to my TV.
I must pointy out that these embedded subs proved unreliable, though, and frequently the subs lost synchronicity with the voice, or whole sentences would not be displayed. The same file works fine if I play locally in my desktop.
So, my question two here, in two parts:
- Anybody knows of a way of playing the external subtitles, through DLNA, with this modem (they work with FTP solutions, but it's not an option for my smartTV)
- If I have to embed the subs to the videos in order to use the router this way, does anyone know a decent, preferably free, software for it? Here's to hoping that the problems with synchronicity aren't inherent to this solution.
Number three:
Last and least, there is something weird with the visibility of the router to my system.
As I said, the router works, and it is accessible all the time. However, when I access the tab "network" in internet explorer, it simply won't show.
And despite not showing, it still works, as I could access the files through DLNA in my Tablet. Also, I could always achieve access the contents by entering the gateway path in windows explorer, but that is a crappy solution to have to repeat endlessly. Also, it would show the gateway address at explorer, not the proper router name, and also, with this solution, the path would not show up when I needed to access files within some program (for example, opening a file in open office).
That would force me to keep my files within my PC hard drive to guarantee access, even though my plan was to move them all to the cloud disk.
Sometimes, after refreshing the network list (manually or automatically), the router does show up in the network folder of WE. But it is unreliable and completely random when it will happen.
I worked out a way around it; I copied a shortcut to a folder within the cloud drive. Now, when I use the shortcut, it instantly forces the windows explorer to acknowledge the router is present. using this solution, the problem of accessing within other programs gets solved as well.
However, I would much rather eliminate the need for this workaround by having WE do what should happen without such hassle; have the router show up automatically under network in explorer, as it should be.
So, sorry for the long text, but I felt I should explain thinks in order to get understood.
Again, thanks in advance for any help.
Regards, FredLC.
I have just acquired the router Asus RT-AC68U, and I am quite the newb with networking, so these are my first experiences setting FTPs, DLNA, using external hard drives connected directly to the router, all those sorts of things.
My experience with Asus tech support has been reasonable so far, but some things just don't get answered, so I would appreciate any help.
So, these are my doubts so far; thanks in advance for answers.
Number one:
Can I connect 2 different USB external drives to it? When I originally connected my 1Tb external drive, all my custom folders appeared as subfolders of a parent "sdb1" folder. When I accessed them through the internet explorer, under network, that's how they were sorted.
However, out of the blue, it's not anymore; all my custom folders show in the root of the drive, without a parent folder at all. And they still can be accessed perfectly fine, despite the fact that this "path" changed. Mind me, this is looking through windows explorer; under the Asus web-based dashboard for the router , the "samba" menu still show my folders under that parent "sdb1" directory, hinting of a path different than the one internet explorer is accepting as valid.
As I got curious, I moved the USB drive to the second USB port, and the router placed all my folders under a "sda1" folder. Same situation, different letter.
So I got curious and mounted a second USB drive to the vacant USB port, because up until this point seemed obvious to me that I could connect 2 USB drives, and I was curious as to how it would handle possible inconsistencies, like files or folders with the same name, if it was masking the full path.
What happened, though, was that the second drive caused the first one to unmount.
So, I repeat question one: can I mount two drives at the same time, or does it truly limit me to a single USB drive, despite having two USB ports?
Number two:
It's about DLNA. When I figured out I could have all my videos stored in the external USB drive, and access them without having to even turn on my computer; that I could even download things directly to this drive, I was quite trilled. Up until this point, I was using Universal Media Server (UMS) in my PC to stream to my Smart TV, with the obvious setback of having my PC on during video sessions.
That should have solved that, but an issue crept in: I must have working subtitles, because most my videos are in English, and my wife does not speak English. But external subtitles (which is what I mostly use) are NOT sent through the router DLNA; they don't show at all, even with the files at the same name and with the same folder as the original file.
I figured out that the router software does not enable transcoding - the solution I used with UMS to get subs - and that without transcoding, DLNA simply would not have that function, but this cannot be entirely true, because by coincidence I tested the one file I have that has embedded subs, and THESE do show up to my TV.
I must pointy out that these embedded subs proved unreliable, though, and frequently the subs lost synchronicity with the voice, or whole sentences would not be displayed. The same file works fine if I play locally in my desktop.
So, my question two here, in two parts:
- Anybody knows of a way of playing the external subtitles, through DLNA, with this modem (they work with FTP solutions, but it's not an option for my smartTV)
- If I have to embed the subs to the videos in order to use the router this way, does anyone know a decent, preferably free, software for it? Here's to hoping that the problems with synchronicity aren't inherent to this solution.
Number three:
Last and least, there is something weird with the visibility of the router to my system.
As I said, the router works, and it is accessible all the time. However, when I access the tab "network" in internet explorer, it simply won't show.
And despite not showing, it still works, as I could access the files through DLNA in my Tablet. Also, I could always achieve access the contents by entering the gateway path in windows explorer, but that is a crappy solution to have to repeat endlessly. Also, it would show the gateway address at explorer, not the proper router name, and also, with this solution, the path would not show up when I needed to access files within some program (for example, opening a file in open office).
That would force me to keep my files within my PC hard drive to guarantee access, even though my plan was to move them all to the cloud disk.
Sometimes, after refreshing the network list (manually or automatically), the router does show up in the network folder of WE. But it is unreliable and completely random when it will happen.
I worked out a way around it; I copied a shortcut to a folder within the cloud drive. Now, when I use the shortcut, it instantly forces the windows explorer to acknowledge the router is present. using this solution, the problem of accessing within other programs gets solved as well.
However, I would much rather eliminate the need for this workaround by having WE do what should happen without such hassle; have the router show up automatically under network in explorer, as it should be.
So, sorry for the long text, but I felt I should explain thinks in order to get understood.
Again, thanks in advance for any help.
Regards, FredLC.
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