How to Access Hard Drives Attached to AirPort Extreme
By Chad Anderson
Network Attached Storage is becoming increasingly common as home media devices continue to be connected to the Internet for streaming media and file sharing. You can access NAS drives connected to an Apple AirPort Extreme wireless access point by mounting the remote share. Since modern file managers are built with file sharing in mind, accessing the remote shares is as easy a long as you know the IP address of your AirPort Extreme. If you do not, the IP address is listed under Gateway in your Network Settings.
Step 1
Launch a file browser window, usually Windows Explorer or Mac Finder.
Step 2
Type \192.168.0.5\share into the address bar, where 192.168.0.5 is the IP address of the NAS and "share" is the name of the share. Under Mac OS X, click "Go" followed by "Connect to Server" and type smb://192.168.0.5/share.
If you don't know the IP address of the NAS you want to access, you can run a utility such as AirPort Utility (Mac OS X) or AirPort Disk (Windows) to determine it.
Step 3
Enter any log-in credentials necessary to access the share.
References
Tips
- NAS drives run rather simply, connecting their shares to the network using CIFS, NFS, or other common protocols that can be picked up by every major desktop operating system. If you are unable to establish a connection to your network shares, it is highly likely that your NAS device was improperly configured from the outset. Try connecting to the device as per the instructions in the manual and changing the share settings to allow access.
Warnings
- Under Mac OS X, you will need to confirm that you have file sharing enabled in your preferences.
Writer Bio
Chad Anderson began writing professionally in 2009. He primarily contributes articles on technology and outdoor topics for various websites. His areas of interest include Linux and open-source software along with cycling and other outdoor sports. Anderson holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the University of Nevada in Reno.