Time Capsule bridge.

[Arjy]

Alright, I have an idea but I need to know if it will work for sure.



I have an Airport extreme running the WLAN in my house. My house is slightly old and is not wired for ethernet. My ISP will only allow my router to be placed at the end of the house opposite my room. NOw, because of wireless N I get a tolerable signal in my room.

Now, I have two mac. A White Core 2 24'' imac, and a black macbook. I would like to get a time capsule so I can use both of them with time machine without having to connect/switch my external drive. Wireless backups from the time capsule should work perfect for this, right?

The other question I have is that I also have a PC gaming system that I use in my room. It doesn't have a wifi card and I really don't want to bother buying one and setting it up and all that. My question is if I get the time capsule, and keep it in my room, and set it up as a bridge extender for my current airport extreme, will I be able to use it for my backups, and plug in my gaming PC to one of the ethernet ports in order to get internet access?


Also, another question. Right now my printer is plugged in to my iMac, and then shared wirelessly. I use my printer for a lot of scanning, so I wanted to know if I use the USB port on the time capsule to share it wirelessly from there, will I still be able to scan?

 

[theLimit]

The other question I have is that I also have a PC gaming system that I use in my room. It doesn't have a wifi card and I really don't want to bother buying one and setting it up and all that. My question is if I get the time capsule, and keep it in my room, and set it up as a bridge extender for my current airport extreme, will I be able to use it for my backups, and plug in my gaming PC to one of the ethernet ports in order to get internet access?

That's a great question. I, too, would like to use a TC as a wireless to ethernet bridge. I currently have computers without wireless on the second story of my house and an AEBS hooked to my modem on the ground floor. If TC can do this it will eliminate the need to buy wireless cards or run cable through walls.

 

[xraydoc]

The Time Capsule can fully act as a wireless access point for your two laptops. And since the TC has 3 gigabit ethernet ports, it can provide connection for your PC as well. Don't need to run it in bridge mode.

However, Apple's documentation recommends you use the Time Capsule as the main router and other devices, i.e., AirPort Express units, etc., in bridge mode, rather than vice versa as was suggested above.

 

[Arjy]

However, Apple's documentation recommends you use the Time Capsule as the main router and other devices, i.e., AirPort Express units, etc., in bridge mode, rather than vice versa as was suggested above.

I wish I could do that, but as I said I cannot set up the main router in my room, where I would like to keep the time capsule. I have a wireless N Airport Extreme already as my main router, I just want to know if I will be able to use either one as a wifi to ethernet bridge.

 

[naquadah1]

we have FIOS wireless in the house currently, using the provided wirelss router form Verizon. guess the question i have is, can i bridge to that wireless network(FIOS router) with a Time Capsule? or does time capsule only extend an Airport wireless network?

 

[paragonj]

My ISP will only allow my router to be placed at the end of the house opposite my room.

What do you mean by this? Do you have cable or DSL? I have never heard of an ISP dictating where your router is placed. In fact, every time I have gotten a new ISP I have dictated to them where I wanted the router placed.

 

[gwihannom]

What do you mean by this? Do you have cable or DSL? I have never heard of an ISP dictating where your router is placed. In fact, every time I have gotten a new ISP I have dictated to them where I wanted the router placed.

He probably means that ISP was installed on a certain jack of the house, and no others work. Or that's where he wants it.

 

[gwihannom]

Alright, I have an idea but I need to know if it will work for sure.



I have an Airport extreme running the WLAN in my house. My house is slightly old and is not wired for ethernet. My ISP will only allow my router to be placed at the end of the house opposite my room. NOw, because of wireless N I get a tolerable signal in my room.

Now, I have two mac. A White Core 2 24'' imac, and a black macbook. I would like to get a time capsule so I can use both of them with time machine without having to connect/switch my external drive. Wireless backups from the time capsule should work perfect for this, right?

The other question I have is that I also have a PC gaming system that I use in my room. It doesn't have a wifi card and I really don't want to bother buying one and setting it up and all that. My question is if I get the time capsule, and keep it in my room, and set it up as a bridge extender for my current airport extreme, will I be able to use it for my backups, and plug in my gaming PC to one of the ethernet ports in order to get internet access?


Also, another question. Right now my printer is plugged in to my iMac, and then shared wirelessly. I use my printer for a lot of scanning, so I wanted to know if I use the USB port on the time capsule to share it wirelessly from there, will I still be able to scan?

Everything you're looking to do is possible.
I have tried almost all of your settings and it worked.
Whether the performance was "good" that's another issue.

You'll be "extending a network," in a bridge mode, allowing wireless clients.
Your iMac will connect to the strongest signal, in this case, your TC in your room.
Because it "relays" your wireless signal, it can be slower despite the higher transmit rate you get.

It's true that it's better to put TC as a primary.
Your wireless backups and accessing the drive will be very slow in the bridge mode.

Since you get tolerable signal just from Airport Extreme, I think it would be best to leave it alone. Have TC join your current network wirelessly, and you'll be able to access the drive wirelessly from your both machines. You'll be stuck with a really expensive network drive in Time Capsule, but bridge mode and extending network slows down the speed.
But this way, Ethernet ports and USB port will still work in TC, which you can connect.

 

[bossxii]

Alright, I have an idea but I need to know if it will work for sure.



I have an Airport extreme running the WLAN in my house. My house is slightly old and is not wired for ethernet. My ISP will only allow my router to be placed at the end of the house opposite my room. NOw, because of wireless N I get a tolerable signal in my room.

Now, I have two mac. A White Core 2 24'' imac, and a black macbook. I would like to get a time capsule so I can use both of them with time machine without having to connect/switch my external drive. Wireless backups from the time capsule should work perfect for this, right?

The other question I have is that I also have a PC gaming system that I use in my room. It doesn't have a wifi card and I really don't want to bother buying one and setting it up and all that. My question is if I get the time capsule, and keep it in my room, and set it up as a bridge extender for my current airport extreme, will I be able to use it for my backups, and plug in my gaming PC to one of the ethernet ports in order to get internet access?


Also, another question. Right now my printer is plugged in to my iMac, and then shared wirelessly. I use my printer for a lot of scanning, so I wanted to know if I use the USB port on the time capsule to share it wirelessly from there, will I still be able to scan?

Exactly how in the hell does an ISP have control where a router is in your own house? Not to get off topic but that sentence took me by surprise lol. I'd tell my ISP to shove it up their.... well you get the idea. It's my house, once the wire is inside I'll do whatever I want with the router/modem.

As to the bridge setup looks like a few people have you on the right track.

 

[taibien86]

we have FIOS wireless in the house currently, using the provided wirelss router form Verizon. guess the question i have is, can i bridge to that wireless network(FIOS router) with a Time Capsule? or does time capsule only extend an Airport wireless network?

I have the same question. Seems no one knows...

 

[Undecided]

I thought I'd add to this old topic instead of creating a new one.

I have an existing wireless network. I added a Time Capsule and set it (1st gen) to "join a wireless network." Works just fine.

What happens to the ethernet ports on the TC when it's set to join a wireless network? I was hoping that I could plug other network devices into it (such as an ethernet network camera), and that they would appear on the network. But that doesn't seem to work. Am I missing something, or are the ethernet ports disabled when it's set to join a wireless network?

 

[beastiedk]

Sorry I jump in with probably a silly question, but I think I am trying to do somethng similar...

Is it possible to extend a network WIRELESSLY with my TC? Meaning no eth cable between ISP provided router and TC and then using ETH cables from TC to two PCs...

 

[self]

Everything you're looking to do is possible.
I have tried almost all of your settings and it worked.
Whether the performance was "good" that's another issue.

You'll be "extending a network," in a bridge mode, allowing wireless clients.
Your iMac will connect to the strongest signal, in this case, your TC in your room.
Because it "relays" your wireless signal, it can be slower despite the higher transmit rate you get.

It's true that it's better to put TC as a primary.
Your wireless backups and accessing the drive will be very slow in the bridge mode.

Since you get tolerable signal just from Airport Extreme, I think it would be best to leave it alone. Have TC join your current network wirelessly, and you'll be able to access the drive wirelessly from your both machines. You'll be stuck with a really expensive network drive in Time Capsule, but bridge mode and extending network slows down the speed.
But this way, Ethernet ports and USB port will still work in TC, which you can connect.

My sister is in the same situation. She's moving to an upstairs duplex where she will share the internet with the people downstairs. She wants to get a Time Capsule just for wireless backups and keep it upstairs.

I think this post answers my questions, but I'm not clear why the communication between her Mac and her TC would be slow in bridge mode?

Router downstairs <-> Her TC upstairs <-> Her Mac upstairs

That seems like a direct wireless connection between the Mac and TC? Or is it only that packets relayed between her Mac and the Internet would be slow?