How to have a separate password for T2 Capsule Router "WiFi" and a different password for the Base Station

A 2020 MacBook Pro will have at least two USB-C ports. These are also known as Thunderbolt 3 ports.

The adapter that you need is like this:

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HJKF2ZM/A/belkin-usb-c-to-gigabit-ethernet-adapter?afid=p238%7Cs59OuuTzU-dc_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_500452390764_pgrid_49565832687_&cid=aos-us-kwgo-pla-btb-3pp--slid---product-HJKF2ZM/A

This is a mighty handy item to have in your desk drawer for times like this, or times when you need to transfer a lot of data from your Mac to the Time Capsule such as making a complete back up of your Mac. The process will go much faster than using Wi-Fi, with fewer chances of errors occurring in the process.

Two ways around the problem come to mind. BUT I am not on big sur.. so what did Apple do I am unsure.

1) Configure the Airport manually.

After a factory reset.. please do factory not just hardware. i.e. hold in reset before power on and wait after power on for around 10sec before releasing reset. That clears NVRAM completely.

Plug the computer directly to the TC by ethernet.. hugely superior to wifi.. since wifi is akin to sawing off the branch you are sitting on. If wifi is all you have well use it.. but the iOS version airport utility often works better than the Mac OS version.

Mac version instructions.

Go to top menu-- File-- in Airport Utility. Configure Other.

Default IP is 10.0.1.1, no password is needed but is public if required later on.

The setup will give you the full configuration of the Airport so you can go through each tab screen.

Go to base station tab and set the main password. (uncheck setup over wan!!)

Go to wireless and setup the wifi name and password. Nice short names, no spaces pure alphanumerics work best. Passwords same rules but longer depending on your level of paranoia.

Actual setup of the TC as router or bridged on the Network tab.

And whatever internet settings you need.. None for bridged.. Default for main router is usually ok.

Click update.. don't worry if the update gives you errors.. without ethernet connection the computer is lost...it is wifi after all... and hence unreliable.

Reboot the TC.. restart Airport Utility.. make sure the computer is connected to the TC wifi only.. i.e. do not use same name as any other router you have in the house.. so you are absolutely sure what you are connected to. (wired makes this obvious).

2) During the standard wizard setup you do not need to use both passwords the same. Uncheck use a single password.

If big sur has removed that option... I have a few other names to apply after the big... I am not allowed to type them here.

Then use the Airport Utility on a Computer running OSX or iOS which still support it.

I pushed the button 8 secs and disconnected the power for a few seconds and opened Airport Utility.

This is the wrong order..

Disconnect power.. hold in reset of the TC unpowered and don't let go.. power the TC on.. never letting go of reset... count slowly to 10.

And at the end I get the screen below. Did twice and same problem..

As I put in the previous post this happens all the time when you don't use ethernet.

Click update.. don't worry if the update gives you errors.. without ethernet connection the computer is lost...it is wifi after all... and hence unreliable.

This is how to get access again. In step form. And more extreme than last time since you had problems.

After you hit update having put in all the settings, reboot the computer.

Make sure you are connected to wifi directly from TC not another router if you have one.

Restart Airport Utility.. if you cannot access the TC reboot the TC as well.

For a 2020 Macbook Pro you need to buy a thunderbolt to ethernet dongle of correct type to fit. An older computer or even PC with an ethernet port .. a real one.. would work even better.

I'm going to let LaPastenague answer since he has done all the work on this one and deserves the credit. I only suggested the correct adapter to establish a wired connection.

But, I am sure that he will say that resetting the Time Capsule will have no effect at all on any of the data stored on the Time Capsule.

To be safe I still would like to configure the Time Capsule as you suggested earlier but if I do a full configuration that clears NVRM will I lose my files in the time capsule?

The answer is NO.. NEVER.. as Bob stated it is impossible to delete files on the TC hard drive by any action other than ERASE via Disk tab on the airport utility or from a computer directly connected over the network to the TC drive.

A full factory reset replaces the router settings stored in NVRAM with standard stored defaults.

connected the ethernet from the T2 Capsule wan to the Mac.

and without doing anything error disappeared and I was connected to the Time Capsule router via WiFi?

Hmmm That is weird.. because plugged into the WAN port is more problematic.. unless the TC is in bridge mode.. in which case WAN is assigned to LAN.. but I prefer to keep things clean.. and stick to using WAN to interconnect your routers.. and stick to LAN to plug in clients.. just as a matter of correct network layout. In bridge it makes no difference but as soon as you do a reset the TC will go back to router mode (default setting) and the computer will be connected to the wrong port.

yesterday did not work. I also have a Router Linksys 3600 connected to the back of the time capsule and I can change wifi from the Linkysis or from the time capsule (Dual Router).

This is a setup that is going to take a while to work through.. you MUST have the settings all correct for it to work.

To fix the problem you are going to need to give me some more details. I need to know if you intend to setup the TC as a secondary router or is it bridged?? Using dual routers is wrong on many levels and will cause issues.

The normal setup we recommend for two routers is to keep your newer router doing the main routing task.. I am guessing that is your Linksys. Use the TC is bridge mode.. as per my earlier instructions.

In this setup it is generally easier to leave the TC wifi turned off.. but that is up to you. Having the TC as separate router with different wifi means no backups take place unless you actually connect to the TC wifi. In the meantime Time Machine will use spare space on the hard disk of the computer to store backups until it has a chance to backup again to the TC.

Bob and I have given extensive answers on how to configure the TC best to manage backups with a 3rd party main router.

Tell us what you are after and we can point to those posts and give you specifics for your setup as long as you give us some clues as to what you have now.

Note .. none of your private info is required. Local lan configuration is using private IP and is not routable over internet.

Screenshots I have given are my actual setup with an Asus main router. None of the info given is of any use to anyone else as long as it does not show main public IP which in both situations is on the main router not the TC.

Note one peculiar "feature" of airport utility v6 as used in any Mac since Lion.

If you have both wifi and ethernet available.. you MUST select the one you are using.

The selection is important.