Extending network using Time Capsule

[brokoli]

Hello,

We share a b/g network at our place among roommates and I'm considering buying a Time Capsule for my own use only. Can I have the time capsule connect to the g network wirelessly (without an ethernet cable)? And then I would like to connect to internet via TC, as in Macbook > TC > Home network > Internet.

Is that Possible? or any other solutions?

Thanks,

 

[grimslade]

What router are you using in the suite now?

 

[brokoli]

We are using linksys (wrt54g or something like that)

 

[skorpien]

Hello,

We share a b/g network at our place among roommates and I'm considering buying a Time Capsule for my own use only. Can I have the time capsule connect to the g network wirelessly (without an ethernet cable)? And then I would like to connect to internet via TC, as in Macbook > TC > Home network > Internet.

Is that Possible? or any other solutions?

Thanks,

Yes, but you won't get N speeds. And if I understand correctly, you'd be connecting at half G speeds (could be wrong about this). I think the only way to get N speeds out of that setup is if you connect the TC to the Linksys with an ethernet cable.

 

[brokoli]

ok thank you.

I actually got it to work..
there is one problem though: I can't connect to my capsule using ethernet. i need ethernet to make the initial transfer.
wifi is too slow..

 

[sjb]

Yes, but you won't get N speeds. And if I understand correctly, you'd be connecting at half G speeds (could be wrong about this). I think the only way to get N speeds out of that setup is if you connect the TC to the Linksys with an ethernet cable.

You would get half speed because the laptop would connect to the TC at N speed (assuming the laptop has N support), and then the TC then has to rebroadcast the packet again via G to the Linksys. Every 'hop' you put on a wireless network halves the bandwidth.

 

[skorpien]

You say you can't connect to the TC via ethernet? Are you connecting it to the LAN ports or the WAN? (I know, silly question but I could see it happening especially if you're extending the network wirelessly).

You would get half speed because the laptop would connect to the TC at N speed (assuming the laptop has N support), and then the TC then has to rebroadcast the packet again via G to the Linksys. Every 'hop' you put on a wireless network halves the bandwidth.

That's what I thought but I wasn't sure as I am just reading up on all of this stuff. Nothing makes you an expert on a topic like having to fix a problem related to it And from the setup he was describing in the OP, it seemed the route would be Internet>Modem>Wireless G Router>~wirelessly~>TC. So that would have been a big waste of the Wireless N capabilities of TC. I say if the space between the routers isn't that great, connect the TC to the other router via ethernet to preserve speeds (or does it work that way?)

 

[brokoli]

hey again and thanks for helping!

The problem is not G, I know this situation is limiting me to G but I will be moving out soon anyway..

The problem is that I cannot connect to TC using the ethernet cable. I need it so I can do my initial big backup. So far TC is working fine but only wirelessly.. :/

and yeah I tried different ports on the back of TC..

 

[sjb]

hey again and thanks for helping!

The problem is not G, I know this situation is limiting me to G but I will be moving out soon anyway..

The problem is that I cannot connect to TC using the ethernet cable. I need it so I can do my initial big backup. So far TC is working fine but only wirelessly.. :/

and yeah I tried different ports on the back of TC..

So you are connecting your computer directly (via ethernet) into one of the ethernet ports on the back of the TC? If so, what do you see in the network status on the computer? Does it show it is connected but with an amber light or a green light? I believe Amber means a private IP address, and green means it received an IP through DHCP. Also, make sure you do not have a static IP address assigned on the ethernet interface on your computer.

 

[brokoli]

So you are connecting your computer directly (via ethernet) into one of the ethernet ports on the back of the TC? If so, what do you see in the network status on the computer? Does it show it is connected but with an amber light or a green light? I believe Amber means a private IP address, and green means it received an IP through DHCP. Also, make sure you do not have a static IP address assigned on the ethernet interface on your computer.

under network ethernet seems to be connected and so is airport. but as soon as I turn of the wireless to use ethernet only TC disconnects (disappears from finder).
In the mean time TC has a green light..

What I did was I reconfigured TC to connect using ethernet only and it worked but this time wireless stopped working. It seems either ethernet or wireless for me and I have to spend about 5 minutes to swtich in between... :/