Just unboxed a new WD My Passport Wireless 1TB and have been struggling to get it to connect to my Kindle Fire HDX 8.9. Connected it fine to my Ipad Air. Not so lucky with the Kindle. Followed the instructions (connected to My Passport wireless, setup WPA password) but still no luck with the Kindle. The WD Cloud App shows the device on my lan, but cannot connect. Weird thing is that the Kindle shows a full connection with the My Passport wireless, but the wifi logo on my kindle has a big “X” on it showing that its not connected to the internet (which makes sense since its connected directly to the passport). Tried using third party App (ES File Explorer) but still could not locate the drive. Thought this worked with both Ipad and Kindle tablets…but I guess I was wrong. Any suggestions?
Just to double check here – if you already set up the Passport using your iPad Air, then you don’t want to do the setup on the Kindle again – you should be able to connect to it using the WiFi password you originally used when setting it up via your Air.
I’m not sure if ES File Explorer will automatically find and connect. You may need to use the default IP address…192.168.60.1… to connect to the MPW via ES File Explorer.
Also, when you think you are connected to the MPW’s WiFi, just bring up a web browser and connect to 192.168.60.1 … and see if you get anything there.
Thanks for the response. Is it necessary to go through the WD App once you setup the Wireless Passport? I tried going directly to the default IP for the Wireless Passport from my normal wireless network but it failed. I assume that there is no other way to access it unless you log directly into the My Passport wireless connection and browse files that way? Would like to somehow tie this to my wireless LAN so I don’t have to keep logging into My Passport to check or retrieve files (like a WD My Cloud external hard drive solution). I’m going to try this again connecting directly to the My Passport wireless IP instead of from my wireless home network. Also, is this wireless drive able to have game apps installed to it once your Kindle or Ipad device is out of space for adding more apps?
Just to update. I was able to use ES Explorer app once I was directly connected to the My Passport wireless IP address. I did a “Scan” in the ES Explorer app LAN screen and it immediately found the MyPassport which allowed me to browse into the drive to check the contents (mostly how to videos and user manuals). My next goal is to connect this device to my home wireless network so I do not have to directly connect to the My Passport wireless IP.
How are you trying to connect the Kindle to the MPW? Via My Cloud app or PC? As far as I know, the Kindle app for My Cloud has not yet been updated to include Android app (so I use the Android app sent to beta testers, since I cannot get it from Google store.)
By the way, my preferred way to use the MPW at home is to connect it to the home network. I can then connect Kindles, iPhones, iPads, Chromecast, etc to it as well as use various apps. The MPW is both a server and a share device.
I connect to the MPW drive via direct wireless connection using my ES File Explorer App (the WD App does not connect to the drive for some reason), and I also connected the drive to my home wireless network so both my Kindle and Ipad can connect to it using File Explorer Apps (WD App works for Ipad but not the Kindle). What I am trying to research and figure out now is how to save game apps to the drive (the primary purpose we got the drive) because we do not keep documents, movies, or photos on our tablets which seems to be what the hard drive is advertised to backup. Its amazing how fast 16GB fills up on the Ipad when you have a lot of game apps…was hoping this could bridge the shortage in space for both the Ipad and Kindle. Will keep searching the web to see if anyone figured out how to backup their Ipad and Android apps.
I would be amazed if you manage this on either device. The MPW is a network drive, which is not guaranteed to be connected to the device like its internal storage is. On certain devices this is mitigated by any expansion ports for micro-SD cards, but even then some apps won’t go onto them without a major fight.
The purpose of the network drives is to take media (pics, music, videos, docs etc) and not apps. That’s what the internal filespace is for, and where certain devices that lack both internal filespace and a way to expand with micro-SD fall down.
You can back-up apps (in terms of storing their configuration in case of problems with the device) but you can’t install and run them on a remote drive which I think is what you actually mean.
Thanks for the reality check. Its disappointing, but appears to be a reality that I cannot expand my app storage beyond the internal drive space on the tablets. I guess this drive will end up being used for some other purpose…
Thanks for the reality check. Its disappointing, but appears to be a reality that I cannot expand my app storage beyond the internal drive space on the tablets. I guess this drive will end up being used for some other purpose…
Suggest you use it for its intended purpose – as a hard drive to store you media files on and a NAS you can access. I. too, do not store any media on my phone or tablets. That’s what this device is for. If you have an appropriate app, you can even access the drive from your network when away from home (e.g. by using the Asus AiCloud app for an Asus router, and there could be other apps that contact your network via internet.)
Thanks for the reply. I agree that this should only be used as a NAS or media storage. Since I have plenty of storage on my network already via a NAS I believe I will be returning the drive to Amazon for store credit to purchase something else since there is no way to increase storage internal to the tablets without buying totally brand new ones with increase storage specs. Thanks for all the reviews and responses.
The main purpose for the WD wireless drive, in fact, ANY wireless drive, is portability of one’s media (NOT apps) and no media needs to be stored on a mobile device (leaving more room for storing apps on device) . This accomplishes a few things: access your media when away from home, elimination of relying on the internet to get one’s media (you can use the thing in an airplane or car!). Additionally, in the case of the MPW, it also acts as a NAS at home as a server or share, so it can be all the time – not just when one wants a portable/wireless drive.
If you do not find the value in these attributes, then you should definitely get a refund, I suppose. As for most of us with a wireless drive, we see lots of value in them for their intended purpose.
