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Help setting up a 2011 AirPort Extreme on a new netgear nighthawk wifi network

Help setting up a 2011 AirPort Extreme on a new netgear nighthawk wifi network.


How would i do this ? I just want the AirPort Extreme to work as a storage device or possible time capsule on my new network. The new modem is a netgear nighthawk.

Posted on Aug 4, 2019 8:55 AM

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Posted on Aug 4, 2019 11:56 AM

I'm pretty sure it is a 3T time capsule. It was used as a time capsule in the past. This may be why it is detected as both the name of the time capsule and the name of its network, which will soon be disabled, right ?.


I appreciate this help, I've already seen those choices in the utility so it sounds simple. I may or may not set this up as a time capsule but I think it will be possible without a USB based on what you have said and what


Do you happen to know if this will leave the existing data on the tower alone when I reconfigure ?


Thank you again- I appreciate it.

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Aug 4, 2019 11:56 AM in response to Tesserax

I'm pretty sure it is a 3T time capsule. It was used as a time capsule in the past. This may be why it is detected as both the name of the time capsule and the name of its network, which will soon be disabled, right ?.


I appreciate this help, I've already seen those choices in the utility so it sounds simple. I may or may not set this up as a time capsule but I think it will be possible without a USB based on what you have said and what


Do you happen to know if this will leave the existing data on the tower alone when I reconfigure ?


Thank you again- I appreciate it.

Aug 4, 2019 11:44 AM in response to Lucialoo

Firmware 7.7.9 would be for an 802.11ac "tower" base station. It could either an AirPort Extreme or a Time Capsule. The latter has a built-in hard drive. The Extreme would require an external USB drive for Time Machine backups. Which do you have?


The following is the "step-by-step" for both reconfiguring your base station as a bridge, and to disable its wireless radios:

  • Run the AirPort Utility (I'm going to assume you will be doing so from a Mac.)
  • Select the base station, and then, select Edit.
  • Select the Wireless tab, and then, change Network Mode to: Off. This will disable the radios.
  • Select the Network tab, and then, change Router Mode to: Off (Bridge Mode). This will reconfigure the base station as a bridge, i.e., disable its routing functions which you will not need.
  • Select Update and allow the base station to restart. That's it, you should be done.

Aug 4, 2019 9:37 AM in response to Lucialoo

Which exact model is your AirPort Extreme base station? Is 2011 when you purchased it or are you saying it is a 2011 model? In 2011 you could have gotten either a 3rd or 4th gen Time Capsule, or a 4th or 5th gen AirPort Extreme.


I ask, only because Apple does not support Time Machine backups to either of these AirPort Extremes, only to the Time Capsules. Regardless, the base station would need to be connected directly to the Netgear router by Ethernet, have its wireless radios disabled, and also reconfigured as a bridge.

Aug 4, 2019 10:25 AM in response to Tesserax

I just recall the date. I think it’s either 3rd or 4th and it has been used as a time capsule in the past - or at least a partition of it was. This is helpful. I think if I just connect it via Ethernet and set it to “bridge” it will work. I was told setting it to bridge would disable the wireless radio/router. Does that sound right ? Thank you.

Aug 4, 2019 10:37 AM in response to Lucialoo

You can find the exact model by using the AirPort Utility. It will be helpful to know.


As far as bridge mode. Reconfiguring the base station as a bridge will NOT automatically disable its wireless radios. That will take an additional set of steps. Let us know if you need a "step-by-step" to get it configured properly for your networking goals.

Aug 4, 2019 11:17 AM in response to Tesserax

Yes, I would appreciate the step by step in case I want to fully disable the signal later.


As of now though it was simple to attach the airport extreme to my new network with an ethernet cable and I can access it easily as a storage device on my mac via the new network. It automatically came up in bridge mode and I can see that it still has it's own signal (I could connect directly to it if I wanted to) but it is not interfering with anything so I may just leave it alone.


Do you see any functional problems with this ?


BTW, It says it is version 7.7.9 with the serial # C86NK611F9H6 Not sure what generation that is though.


Thanks so much


Aug 4, 2019 12:40 PM in response to Lucialoo

I'm pretty sure it is a 3T time capsule. It was used as a time capsule in the past. This may be why it is detected as both the name of the time capsule and the name of its network, which will soon be disabled, right ?.

Correct! Thanks I just wanted to make sure I understood what you have.


I may or may not set this up as a time capsule but I think it will be possible without a USB based on what you have said

You can certainly continue to use it as a backup destination for Time Machine with it reconfigured. Nothing has really changed as far as Time Machine is concerned.


Do you happen to know if this will leave the existing data on the tower alone when I reconfigure ?

Nothing! Time Machine will continue to use it for backups.

Help setting up a 2011 AirPort Extreme on a new netgear nighthawk wifi network

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