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We recently got a new router for our house, better speeds than our old AirPort Extreme time capsule. We want to continue using the AirPort Extreme for our network backups but not use it as a router. Is there a way to do this? I can’t figure out if we can and I’m very limited in knowledge on this subject. Thanks for any help!
OK, it's back to square one, I am afraid.
Keep the Time Capsule connected to the TP-Link router as detailed above
Power up the Time Capsule if it is not already on and then hold in the reset button on the back of the Time Capsule for 7-8 seconds and release. The amber light will blink quickly while you are holding in the reset button.
When you release the reset button, the amber light will be solid for 15-20 seconds or so and then change to slowly blinking amber.
Click on the WiFi menu at the top of your Mac's screen and look for a listing of New AirPort Base Station. Just under that listing, click directly on AirPort Time Capsule, or it might say only Time Capsule depending on the model that you have.
When you click on AirPort Time Capsule, that will start up the AirPort Utility setup "wizard". The wizard will take a few second to analyze the network settings that are present at the time and then display a screen that looks like the example below, except that you will your Time Capsule pictured, not an AirPort Express.
Network Name.......Type in a short simple name for a network like "Test" (without the quotation marks). Later, if things are operating correctly, we will manually turn off the WiFi on the Time Capsule, but it must be on for now to complete the setup.
Base Station Name......Type in a device name for the Time Capsule. You can use the same name that you used before if you wish
Password......Type in a password for the Time Capsule
Verify......Type in the same password again to confirm
Click Next, and wait for a minute or two to see if the wizard will set things up correctly for now. When you see the message of Setup Complete, click Done
Should be a nice bright green light on the Time Capsule at this time.
Now, log onto the TP Link WiFi network at your Mac. Do not log onto the network named "Test".
Check to see if you can run a backup from your Mac to the Time Capsule
If you can, do the same thing for the other Mac that will be backing up.
Report on your results.
If the Macs cannot run a backup at this time, more work will be needed to see if we can get things going. Please remember, Apple does not officially support what you want to do, so it would be wise to keep your expectations on the low side.
OK, it's back to square one, I am afraid.
Keep the Time Capsule connected to the TP-Link router as detailed above
Power up the Time Capsule if it is not already on and then hold in the reset button on the back of the Time Capsule for 7-8 seconds and release. The amber light will blink quickly while you are holding in the reset button.
When you release the reset button, the amber light will be solid for 15-20 seconds or so and then change to slowly blinking amber.
Click on the WiFi menu at the top of your Mac's screen and look for a listing of New AirPort Base Station. Just under that listing, click directly on AirPort Time Capsule, or it might say only Time Capsule depending on the model that you have.
When you click on AirPort Time Capsule, that will start up the AirPort Utility setup "wizard". The wizard will take a few second to analyze the network settings that are present at the time and then display a screen that looks like the example below, except that you will your Time Capsule pictured, not an AirPort Express.
Network Name.......Type in a short simple name for a network like "Test" (without the quotation marks). Later, if things are operating correctly, we will manually turn off the WiFi on the Time Capsule, but it must be on for now to complete the setup.
Base Station Name......Type in a device name for the Time Capsule. You can use the same name that you used before if you wish
Password......Type in a password for the Time Capsule
Verify......Type in the same password again to confirm
Click Next, and wait for a minute or two to see if the wizard will set things up correctly for now. When you see the message of Setup Complete, click Done
Should be a nice bright green light on the Time Capsule at this time.
Now, log onto the TP Link WiFi network at your Mac. Do not log onto the network named "Test".
Check to see if you can run a backup from your Mac to the Time Capsule
If you can, do the same thing for the other Mac that will be backing up.
Report on your results.
If the Macs cannot run a backup at this time, more work will be needed to see if we can get things going. Please remember, Apple does not officially support what you want to do, so it would be wise to keep your expectations on the low side.
Apple does not officially support the type of setup that you are asking about, but it is possible that things might work the way that you want if you are willing to spend the time to experiment......with no guarantee of success.
We'll need some basic information before we can tell you if/how it might be possible to set things up.
What is the make and model number of your "new" router?
Is the Time Capsule now connected to the new router?
If yes, are you currently able to back up your Mac(s) to the Time Capsule?
If no, you will need reset the Time Capsule back to default settings and then set it up again, so that it will hopefully pick up the new correct settings that it needs to connect to the new router. network.
In addition, you will need an Ethernet cable to connect the Time Capsule to your new router. The Time Capsule can be located wherever you want that the Ethernet cable will reach.
Finally, we'll assume that you will be using a Mac to set things up on the Time Capsule. Is that correct?
New router is a TP-Link AC1750. We disconnected the time capsule and unplugged it since we didn’t need it anymore. But before we disconnected we were able to back up using time machine to the time capsule. Yes we will be using a Mac to set this up. We want this as a network backup for two MacBooks
Connect an Ethernet cable from one the LAN <--> Ethernet ports on the TP-Link router.......(there are 4 of them, usually yellow or orange in color.......select any one that you want).......to the WAN "O" port on the Time Capsule.
Power up the Time Capsule and note whether or not there is a green light status after a minute or two, or whether the indicator lamp is slowly and continuously flashing amber.
IF.....there is a green light, make sure that you are connected to the TP-Link WiFi network on your Mac(s) and try to run a backup from one or both of the Macs.
Report on your results.
This will tell us whether the Time Capsule is already set up and a few more minor tweaks are required......or...... whether the Time Capsule will need to be reset back to its default settings and then totally reconfigured again........(which we are trying to avoid).
Follow up note.......
If you are able to get a backup started using the TP-Link network to back up, you may see "Preparing" for a long time, because the Time Capsule needs to digest all of the changes that have occurred.
Let "Preparing" run until the actual backup starts and completes, or until you see an error message. If an error message appears, please post back with the exact text of that message.
Glad that you got things working, but not sure why you marked your "thanks" as the specific solution to your question, which will likely confuse users who might have a similar question to yours.
If you don't need the "Test" wireless network that you configured during the setup, you can turn that function off on the Time Capsule as follows:
Open AirPort Utility on your Mac
Click on the Time Capsule
Click Edit in the smaller window that appears
Click the Wireless Tab at the top of the next window
Change the setting for Network Mode from "Create a wireless network" to "Off"
Click Update at the lower right of the window to save the changes
Your advice seems to have worked! Both computers are currently backing up to the time capsule on the network. Thank you for your time and education! Much appreciated!
I did as you suggested and did not get a solid green light...
AirPort Extreme, using it as a network backup, not router
