How can I access Time Capsule as my Time Machine back up?

I have used Airport Utility to turn OFF the router function of my Time Capsule. And I have connected my Time Capsule WAN port to one of my eero MESH router units.

Strictly that should have worked.. but it is a bit fragile.

Let me suggest you do a full factory reset of the TC. Leave it plugged into the Eero by ethernet to TC wan port.

No files are lost doing this. It merely resets the router side.

In the airport utility start the setup wizard and the TC should substantially configure itself.

It will get an IP from the Eero router and work in bridged mode.

As you go through the setup PLEASE DO USE NEW SHORT NAME. NOT WHAT YOU USED BEFORE.

The name is short, <8 characters, no spaces and pure alphanumeric.

Password same rules. 8-20 characters.

Test that you can open it in Finder.

If you can mount the TC disk in Finder.. then go to Time Machine, add or remove disks.

Add the newly renamed TC. Time Machine will say it is going to do a new backup.. ignore this.

You do not need to do anything else.. wait until Time Machine begins a backup and make sure it actually picks up your previous backup. It will verify the backup and then do the next incremental. From that point you should be able to open TM backups to any of your previous dates.

If that works on first Mac the rest will function the same.

NOTE.. to be stable you do need to do a few things.

1. Set the IP to static value in the TC.
2. Turn IPv6 to link-local only
3. If wireless is on, turn it off in the TC.
4. And much more complicated.. domain issues.. leave it for now.

I have put these instructions in other posts so let me dig you up a reference.

I have used Airport Utility to turn OFF the router function of my Time Capsule.

Does this mean that you turned "off" the wireless function of the Time Capsule?

If yes, that is OK, but there is another setting that you need to change as well. Post back for more instructions.

Note.....whenever you change the modem or the router to which the Time Capsule connects, it is best to reset the Time Capsule back to factory default settings and then set it up again from scratch........so that all the "old" network settings are erased and the Time Capsule can pick up the "new" settings that it needs to connect your "new" network.

We'll try to avoid having you reset your Time Capsule......but that may be necessary if a "try this" and "try that" approach results in continued problems.

Hopefully, you are not running Catalina on your Mac since there have been countless numbers of users.....includng me..... who can no longer access their previous backups before they "upgraded" to Catalina.

So, you are saying/confirming what LaPastenague wrote, that I can reset the TC without losing my back ups. And that it's best to reset it to allow my TC to pick up new network settings.

Correct

However, the Catalina operating system has created a number of new issues with Time Machine, so if you have installed Catalina on your Mac(s) there may be more challenges ahead.

If you need assistance with the basic setup, my neighbor has an Eero mesh system and I helped him set up his Time Capsule on the network, so I am familiar with this type of configuration.

His Mac running Mojave is working great. His other Mac running Catalina cannot "see" the older backups that were made by the Mac before he "upgraded" to Catalina. This is a frequent issue that we have seen many times on this forum.

Not sure where the Aperture image library is stored on your Mac, but it might be a good idea to have more than just a Time Machine backup of the image library. That might mean copying the image library over to another USB drive that is connected directly to your Mac.

It's your call, but personally I would be nervous if I only had only one backup of important data. Even more so if the Time Capsule is 4-5 years old or older.

Post back with screenshots if you have issues..

The hardware is getting a bit long in the tooth but for as long as it can be used it still works better than any alternative when you actually get to emergency and need to recover.

I got another call.. edit time is expired.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250885145?answerId=251684715022#251684715022

Great plan!