So for whatever reason to get maya to actually see network paths when you try to link a file that is on a NAS for example you have to change a setting in your maya preferences.
Go to the menu in the top of maya. Window>settings/prefernces>preferences
Then in the catagories section on the left side of the dialog. Choose Files/Project
Scroll down on the right side till you see "file dialog" section. And select "OS native" now you can browse in maya to network drives.