movie princess
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Q: I have a new modem and want to set up my Apple Airport as a backup drive; how do I do that?

I have a new Verizon modem and want to set up my Apple Airport as a backup drive; how do I do that?  I don't need to extend the network, just find a use for the Airport. 

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Mar 17, 2016 3:20 PM

by Bob Timmons,Apple recommended
Bob Timmons Bob Timmons
Level 10 (105,118 points)
Wireless
A:

If you have confirmed that you have an Ethernet cable connecting from one of the four LAN <--> ports on your router to the WAN "O" port on the AirPort Time Capsule........

 

When you click on Other WiFi Devices , then click on AirPort Time Capsule 108aad, the setup "wizard" will open up and display a screen that looks like this.....except that you will see a Time Capsule pictured. The wizard is smart.....this is the correct setup.

 

Uverse - Fios Setup.png

 

For Network Name........Type in a short, simple name that you want to call a wireless network

Base Station Name.......Type in a short, simple name....like ATC, for example

For Password......Type in a password to be used for both the wireless network and ATC

For Verify......Type in the same password to confirm

Click Next

 

The setup wizard will configure everything for you. After a minute or two, you will see a message on the screen of Setup Complete. Click Done at that time, and you are done.  The Time Capsule should have a nice, bright green light now.

 

Apple wants you to use the Time Capsule wireless, so click on the WiFi icon at the top of the Mac's screen and then select the network you named above. Enter the password if required.

 

You should be all set.

 

Post back if you need help setting up your Mac to back up to the Time Capsule.

Posted on Mar 20, 2016 11:21 AM

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movie princess

Q: I have a new modem and want to set up my Apple Airport as a backup drive; how do I do that?

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  • by Tesserax,

    Tesserax Tesserax Mar 17, 2016 3:26 PM in response to movie princess
    Level 9 (54,563 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 17, 2016 3:26 PM in response to movie princess

    What is the make & model of your new Verizon modem? What is the exact model of your AirPort?

  • by movie princess,

    movie princess movie princess Mar 17, 2016 3:42 PM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 3:42 PM in response to Tesserax

    It is a FIOS G-1100 modem; the Airport is Model A-1470.

  • by Tesserax,Helpful

    Tesserax Tesserax Mar 20, 2016 10:57 AM in response to movie princess
    Level 9 (54,563 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 20, 2016 10:57 AM in response to movie princess

    Ok, thanks. Your FIOS G-1100 modem is actually a combination modem and wireless router. It would also be known as a gateway device.

     

    Your Apple AirPort is an 802.11ac Time Capsule (TC). Since you don't want to use your TC to extend your gateway's wireless network, may I suggest that you connect it directly to the gateway using an Ethernet cable between one of the gateway's LAN ports to the WAN (circle-of-dots) port on the TC.

     

    You will want to make the following changes to the TC:

    • Reconfigure it as a bridge. This will disable its routing functions. All routing will be done by the gateway.
    • Disable its wireless radios. The gateway will be providing the Wi-Fi network.

    In this configuration, network clients will be able to access the TC for any of the following:

    • Time Machine backups.
    • File storage
    • Access a network printer attached to the TC's USB port.

    You will not need to make any configuration changes to the gateway. We will only need to work with the TC. The first thing you will want to do is get the TC back to its "out-of-the-box" configuration. We would do this by performing a "factory default" reset on it.

     

    Once the reset has completed and the TC has restarted, we would need to access it with the AirPort Utility to make the changes. Although we can use the utility's automated process, it may be easier to just make a few manual changes to get to where we want to be with the TC.

     

    The TC should now show up on the Wi-Fi menu on your iMac's OS X menu bar under the title "New AirPort Base Station." Select it and this should start up the AirPort Utility.

    • Select your TC from the utility's graphic, and then, select Edit.
    • Select the Wireless tab.
    • Change Network Mode to: Off
    • Select the Network tab.
    • Change Router Mode to: Off (Bridge Mode)
    • Click on Update and allow the TC to restart.

    You can always use the AirPort Utility again to make any other desired changes, but that should do it for now. Please post back your results.

  • by movie princess,

    movie princess movie princess Mar 20, 2016 11:05 AM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2016 11:05 AM in response to Tesserax

    OK, every time I do the factory reset and connect to the wireless modem, I open the Airport utility.   There is no graphic of the TC in Utility, just a message "Other Wi-Fi Devices (1)", which, when I click on that, the only option I have is "Airport Time Capsule 108aad".  When I click on that, it asks me what I want to do with the TC.  It automatically named it and named a network and says "This Airport Time Capsule will create a network".  I click on "Other Options" and select "Add to an existing network" and it goes back to the previous screen and gives me the same message.  I can't seem to get out of that loop.  Should I go ahead and let it create a network and then reconfigure it after it shows up in the Network menu?

  • by Bob Timmons,Apple recommended

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Mar 20, 2016 11:21 AM in response to movie princess
    Level 10 (105,118 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 20, 2016 11:21 AM in response to movie princess

    If you have confirmed that you have an Ethernet cable connecting from one of the four LAN <--> ports on your router to the WAN "O" port on the AirPort Time Capsule........

     

    When you click on Other WiFi Devices , then click on AirPort Time Capsule 108aad, the setup "wizard" will open up and display a screen that looks like this.....except that you will see a Time Capsule pictured. The wizard is smart.....this is the correct setup.

     

    Uverse - Fios Setup.png

     

    For Network Name........Type in a short, simple name that you want to call a wireless network

    Base Station Name.......Type in a short, simple name....like ATC, for example

    For Password......Type in a password to be used for both the wireless network and ATC

    For Verify......Type in the same password to confirm

    Click Next

     

    The setup wizard will configure everything for you. After a minute or two, you will see a message on the screen of Setup Complete. Click Done at that time, and you are done.  The Time Capsule should have a nice, bright green light now.

     

    Apple wants you to use the Time Capsule wireless, so click on the WiFi icon at the top of the Mac's screen and then select the network you named above. Enter the password if required.

     

    You should be all set.

     

    Post back if you need help setting up your Mac to back up to the Time Capsule.

  • by movie princess,

    movie princess movie princess Mar 20, 2016 11:25 AM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2016 11:25 AM in response to Bob Timmons

    So once I set it up as a "network" do I follow the instructions given earlier to "turn off" the Airport as my network (instructions from Tesserax):

    • Reconfigure it as a bridge. This will disable its routing functions. All routing will be done by the gateway.
    • Disable its wireless radios. The gateway will be providing the Wi-Fi network.

    In this configuration, network clients will be able to access the TC for any of the following:

    • Time Machine backups.
    • File storage

    I don't want to use it to extend my network or "become" my network.  I just want to have it available for storage.  And can I, once I set it up as a "network" reconfigure it to do just that?

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Mar 20, 2016 11:34 AM in response to movie princess
    Level 10 (105,118 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 20, 2016 11:34 AM in response to movie princess

    The AirPort Time Capsule will automatically be configured in Bridge Mode by the wizard, so you don't have to worry about that.

     

    As I said above, Apple wants you to use the wireless on the Time Capsule for backups. 

     

    Using the wireless on your Verizon modem/router might work if you want to turn off the WiFi service of the Time Capsule.....but backups will not be officially supported by Apple in this type of setup......so if you have difficulty with backups.....there will be no help from Apple.

     

    If you want to try, we can tell you how to turn off the WiFi on the Time Capsule once you have it set up, but we cannot say whether backups to the Time Capsule will work this way or not.

  • by movie princess,

    movie princess movie princess Mar 20, 2016 12:18 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2016 12:18 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    OK, so will I basically have 2 wi-fi routers...and  use the TC as a backup through that wi-fi with a different network name...and will that interfere with the Fios wi-fi router?  If not, then that will work for me.  My problem with the TC before was that it was saving all the time and getting full and then stopped working completely.  I don't necessarily want to save EVERYTHING...just movies, pics, documents, etc.  I put a lot of stuff in the iCloud, so will probably need help getting the TC set up as a wireless backup.  For a time, it was deleting old files when it got full (which is fine with me), but I would like to only save specific files and then only changes to those files going forward so I have a complete set of current files at all times.

     

    On another note, in my Network I have Thunderbolt Bridge with Thunderbolt 1 and Thunderbolt 13, but I have no idea what that means.  They are both inactive.

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Mar 20, 2016 12:32 PM in response to movie princess
    Level 10 (105,118 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 20, 2016 12:32 PM in response to movie princess

    Things will be much simpler if you use the Time Capsule WiFi for your normal Internet and wireless use on your Mac, so you don't have to manually switch back and forth from one wireless network to another. Your other wireless devices can continue to connect to the Verizon wireless if you don't want them to use the Time Capsule wireless.

     

    It's also very likely that the Time Capsule wireless will significantly outperform the Verizon router's wireless (my neighbor's does, so he simply does not use the Verizon wireless at all for his wireless devices). It's your call.

     

    Time Machine backs up everything on your Mac the first time that it backs up. After that, it only backs up any changes that have occurred on your Mac since the last backup. So, the first back up might take 4-5 hours. After that, backups should only take a few minutes.....unless you have just added a lot of new data to your Mac to be backed up.

     

    It's best to let Time Machine handle backups for you automatically. I've had two Macs backing up for years with no issues at all.

     

    Unless you have a Thunderbolt Internet connection, the Thunderbolt settings that you might see in the Network folder of your Mac will not be used, so you don't need to pay any attention to them.

     

    Get the Time Capsule set up and working and connect to the Time Capsule WiFi on your Mac and make sure things are working that way for your Internet connection.......then......we'll get Time Machine back ups set up and working for you.

  • by movie princess,

    movie princess movie princess Mar 20, 2016 1:19 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2016 1:19 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    Unfortunately, when we were using the TC as the wireless network with our old modem, the wireless performance did not extend very far.  We have a nice outdoor area that never worked until we got an extender, and even then, we would lose our wireless with our phones and iPads; we were also having some difficulty with Apple TVs that we have in several rooms.  The new Verizon modem is supposed to extend the network to 300 ft surrounding the house, which is the reason we got it.  So if I set up the old TC as the network for our Macs (here in the office, where we have the modem), I'm assuming that the Apple TVs will all connect to that network since that is where the Macs are - including the movies and pics that I have on external drives connected to the iMac.  If we use the Fios modem for iPads and iPhones (and we back up wirelessly to iCloud on those devices), will there be an issue?  What's the speed of the AP, and what's the range?  I don't want to have issues again.  

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Mar 20, 2016 1:40 PM in response to movie princess
    Level 10 (105,118 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 20, 2016 1:40 PM in response to movie princess

    We're getting lost and drifting off course.  I'm recommending what works best for me.....and my neighbor who does have a Verizon router and a Time Capsule.

     

    I can't say what will work best for you. All that I can do is tell you what Apple will and will not support as far as backups with the Time Capsule. You can try an unsupported method if you want......it might work.  Great if it does, but no help from Apple if it doesn't.

     

    My advice would be to get the Time Capsule set up in a supported way as outlined above and see if you can can get your Mac backing up using Time Machine correctly.  Then, you can see if backups will occur over the Verizon wireless.  They might.....they might not. If they do, we'll tell you how to turn off the Time Capsule wireless, or you can just ignore it and not use it.

     

    That is really all that we want to tackle at this time.

  • by movie princess,

    movie princess movie princess Mar 20, 2016 2:13 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 20, 2016 2:13 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    Well, I set it up as a separate network...it was set up and working, as far as I could tell. Then suddenly a message came up on the airport utility that "Time Capsule" could not be found.  I did not change any network configuration of the TC itself (did not turn off Network mode or turn it off as a bridge).  It still has the green light, but can't be found.  This is what it was doing on the old network also.  So do I turn it into a door stop or what?

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Mar 20, 2016 2:34 PM in response to movie princess
    Level 10 (105,118 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 20, 2016 2:34 PM in response to movie princess

    Power off your Mac and pull the power plug on the Time Capsule

    Wait a minute

    Plug the power cord back into the Time Capsule

    Restart your Mac

     

    Make sure that the Mac is connected to the Time Capsule wireless network, not the Verizon wireless network

  • by Tesserax,Helpful

    Tesserax Tesserax Mar 20, 2016 8:18 PM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 9 (54,563 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 20, 2016 8:18 PM in response to Bob Timmons

    FWIW, in my current network configuration, I have three AirPorts (1 Extreme & 2 TCs) connected back to a Cisco router by Ethernet. The wireless radios are turned off on both TCs with the Extreme providing the whole-house Wi-Fi. One of the TCs is dedicated as a "file server" and the other for Time Machine backups.

     

    In this configuration, none of my Macs have any issue with performing or restoring from TM backups to the "wired" TC. My Macs are connected either by wireless to the Extreme or by wire back to the Cisco ... and why I provided the OP with the response I gave on disabling the TC's radios.

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