Computer no longer sees Time Capsule

[ks-man]

Hi,

I recently tried to bridge a Linksys router to my TC with the TC as the primary router. Everything with the Linksys is working fine, but when I switched the TC from 2.4ghz to N-only 5.0ghz in Airport Utility it said it would restart the TC.

Now however I can no longer see the TC in the Airport Utility. If I scan it says no Apple devices connected. I can connect to my new linksys network (which is connected to a LAN port on the TC) fine but I don't see the TC network (they are called different names).

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[gwsat]

Is your Linksys router an n or g device? I, too use a separate router with my TC but my other router is g only and serves the g clients on my wireless network. On my network the g router provides all routing services. The TC is bridged and its wireless mode is 802.11n only (5 GHz). Consequently it performs no routing services and connects wirelessly only to its two n clients, a MacBook Pro laptop and an Apple TV.

For this setup, I connected the TC directly to the cable modem with Ethernet and setup another Ethernet connection between it and the g router. All has gone well since I did this.

When I first setup the TC for n only, I created an n network for it and a separate g network for the g router and its g clients. In that configuration, the g router was directly connected to the cable modem with Ethernet and then also connected to the TC, also with Ethernet. Neither the TC nor the g router was bridged so I had two networks, the TC serving as router for n clients and the g router serving the g clients. It worked but I had to shift from the n to the g network before I could print from the MacBook Pro to my g, which was connected to the g router via Ethernet.

In order to get things going on a single network but still have n speeds available for wireless communication between the TC and its n clients, I reversed the order in which the TC and the g router were connected and set the TC into bridge mode.

 

[ks-man]

I thought that was what I was doing but now I really can't do anything since I can't access the TC. I can't find it at all wirelessly. I guess I'll try connecting my MBA directly to the TC but I'm wondering why I can't find the TC at all right now.

 

[ks-man]

I did a little more messing around and what seems to have happened is that when I changed to N-only 5.0ghz the range plummeted. I could only see the TC if I was within 10-15 feet. When I switched back to 2.4ghz the range seems fine.

So basically my setup is:

cable modem -> TC (SSID 1, N-only 2.4ghz) -> Linksys (SSID 2, mixed b/g)

Am I missing out on not having the TC set to 5.0ghz and is there a disadvantage to having two different SSIDs (I guess two different networks) than all on one?

Thanks for the help.

 

[gwsat]

I’m glad you figured out the problem. You aren’t the first person here who has reported that they have had range problems with the TC.

Based on my limited understanding of the technology, the 5.0 GHz setting with 802.11n devotes all of the routers multiple channels to speed but the 2.4 GHz setting somehow increases range with some speed loss. I really don’t know much more than that.

In my setup, I have the good fortune of having both the MacBook Pro and Apple TV in sight of and less that 20 feet from the TC, so backups and communications with it have been satisfactory, even using 5.0 GHz instead of 2.4. My g router has great range. It is a Belkin Pre-N, which I bought specifically for its terrific range as a g router. My old PowerBook G4 is in the kitchen, which is well over 50 feet and 3 corners away from the Belkin. No matter, communications between the router and the PowerBook are solid and the signal strong.

 

[skorpien]

I did a little more messing around and what seems to have happened is that when I changed to N-only 5.0ghz the range plummeted. I could only see the TC if I was within 10-15 feet. When I switched back to 2.4ghz the range seems fine.

So basically my setup is:

cable modem -> TC (SSID 1, N-only 2.4ghz) -> Linksys (SSID 2, mixed b/g)

Am I missing out on not having the TC set to 5.0ghz and is there a disadvantage to having two different SSIDs (I guess two different networks) than all on one?

Thanks for the help.

ks-man, I'd suggest messing around with the placement of your Time Capsule. It could be that the signal is being blocked by something in its vicinity. However, on average, people have noticed that the 5 GHz range is shorter than the 2.4 GHz, and not able to penetrate walls and other objects as well.

As for the disadvantages of the 2 SSIDs, there are none. You have to have separate SSIDs if you're setting up a multiple WAP network that is not set up as roaming. Your setup requires the two SSIDs. And the only thing you're missing out on is a faster transmit rate. 300 Mbps max on 802.11n only 5 GHz as opposed to 130 Mbps on 2.4 GHz. You won't notice much difference if you're browsing and downloading, but when you transfer large files between computers you will.