The Mac can easily use network shares from other computers or a NAS - without any additional software..
A computer is only really fun when it is working on a network. Sure: The Internet is also a network, but it only becomes really practical when data can be distributed and accessed in the home network. For example, if you want to move a film from your Macbook to the NAS in order to watch a film on the SmartTV. Integrating network shares is child's play, all you need is the finder and the access data to the network drive.
If a network volume does not appear in the Finder, there can be various reasons. So it can be that the end device has hung itself or that the release is simply not active. However, it is also possible that the end device cannot be recognized in the network for various reasons: In these cases, you have to select it manually: