Time Capsule Not In Airport Utility With Wireless Turned Off

OK, lets's see how well the Asus router and the Time Capsule can get along together.

Power off the Time Capsule if it is still on and disconnect the Ethernet cable if it is still connected to the Time Capsule

Then, power the Time Capsule back up and let it run for a minute

Hold in the reset button on the back of the Time Capsule for 7-8 seconds and then release the button.

The reset button is located just to the right of the AC power socket on the back of the Time Capsule

After a minute, the Time Capsule should display a slow blinking amber light status

Power off the Time Capsule again

Connect an Ethernet cable from one of the LAN <--> Ethernet ports on the back of the Asus router........there are probably 4 of them......choose any one that you want.

Connect the other end of the Ethernet cable to the WAN "O" port on the Time Capsule. This is the port that is at the bottom of the Time Capsule

Power the Time Capsule back up and let it run a minute

Click on the WiFi menu at the top of the Mac's screen and look for a listing of New AirPort Base Station

Just below that, click on AirPort Time Capsule

When you click on Time Capsule, that will open up the AirPort Utility setup "wizard". The utility will take a few seconds to analyze the network and then display a screen that looks similar to the example below, except that you will see a Time Capsule pictured.

Network Name......Type in a network name for the Time Capsule. Later, we'll try to turn this off.

Base Station Name.....Type in a device name for the Time Capsule

Password.....Type in a password for the Time Capsule

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

Click Next, and the setup utility will configure the Time Capsule with the correct basic settings. Later, we will manually make more changes as needed.

After a minute, the Time Capsule should display a green light.

Close AirPort Utility

Restart your Mac and make sure that the Mac is connected to the Asus Wi-Fi network.....not the Time Capsule Wi-Fi network

Open AirPort Utility again

Does the Time Capsule appear? Post back on your progress please and we will continue.

If you want to connect directly to the Time Capsule, you will need a Thunderbolt or USB to Ethernet adapter to plug into the Mac. Connect the other end of the Ethernet cable to one of the three LAN <--> Ethernet ports on the Time Capsule.

Then, be sure to turn off the Wi-Fi on the Mac so the connection will go over Ethernet.

Remember, there are some settings that you cannot see that remain present from the "original" setup even though you have changed from router mode of DHCP and NAT to Off (Bridge Mode).

You also need to set IPv6 to Link Local Only.

Internet Options provides a clue.

AirPort Utility > Edit > Internet Tab > Internet Options

When you put the Time Capsule in Bridge Mode.....(Apple calls this Off (Bridge Mode))......IPv6 needs to be set to Link Local Only. The setting should have changed automatically when you select Bridge Mode, but Apple never got around to fixing this.

Did you perform a Hard Reset or Factory Default Reset on the Time Capsule.....before....you reconfigured the Time Capsule?

Do you recall making any changes to the IPv6 settings on the Time Capsule? The IPv6 setting would need to be changed if the Time Capsule is going to run in Bridge Mode.

Is the Time Capsule tall shaped, like a "tower".....or.....is the Time Capsule flat shaped, like a small white pizza box?

Unfortunately, you cannot change network settings "on the fly" and expect the Time Capsule to function correctly.

I don't have an Asus router here to work with, but I have repurposed and reconfigured Time Capsules to work with other routers.....most recently about a week ago when I reset and reconfigured a neighbor's Time Capsule to work with a new AT&T router's Wi-Fi network.

We can tell you in detail how to try to set up the Time Capsule with your Asus router, but we can't offer any guarantees on the results. In theory, things should work. In practice, not all routers are the same.

You should also please understand that if you have been using Time Machine to back up your Mac(s) to the Time Capsule, that Time Machine will likely start all over with a new backup of each Mac and then work forward from there. It is unlikely....but possible....that Time Machine will continue to back up to the existing backup file on the Time Capsule.

This will be one of those times when you won't know how well....or if....things will work until you try them out on your network.

Please post back to let us know if you want to proceed.

So I hooked up my Time Capsule to my ASUS router via ethernet cable

But, the Time Capsule was not originally set up this way.....to the ASUS router....was it?

connected to the Time Capsule network and put it in Bridge Mode, and turned Wirelss to Off.

But.....there were a still a number of other embedded settings that were present from the previous set up of the Time Capsule....settings that were picked up automatically during the original setup.

So, you wound up with a mix of new and old network settings and some conflicts. The Time Capsule was lost and confused, and did not know what to do, even if it had a green light on the front panel.

Whenever you change the basic function of the Time Capsule......it was set up as a DHCP and NAT router before.....you should reset the Time Capsule back to defaults, so that it will pick up the new settings that it needs from a new modem or new router on the network.

Are you saying that in order to turn off wireless, the proper procedure is to do a hard/factory reset and then turn off wireless?

Yes and no.

Yes, if you are changing the basic function and network router settings on the Time Capsule....as you are.

No, if you made no other changes on the Time Capsule.....which was operating correctly and all that you wanted to do was turn off the Wi-Fi function on the Time Capsule.....and not change any of the other network settings.

It will take some time for me to develop a detailed step by step guide to reconfigure the Time Capsule. We have a dinner reservation with another couple for this evening, but I will try to have the basic setup done by 9-10 PM or so CDT.

Unfortunately, AirPort Utility requires you to use Apple's configuration templates for the basic setup to get things going, then you have to go back in manually to make some other changes.....IPv6, for example.....which does not auto configure like most other settings. So, there will be some back and forth in the process.

In some cases, it is necessary to leave the Time Capsule Wi-Fi on. In that case, you just ignore the Time Capsule Wi-Fi and use the other router's Wi-Fi. We'll see about that. There is another way to turn off the Time Capsule Wi-Fi that may surprise you.

We already provided detailed step by step instructions for 1). Your existing backups will not be affected, but Time Machine may start over again with a new backup and move forward because of the changes that you have made on the network....and it might not. You won't know until you try.

The Wi-Fi will still be "on" at the Time Capsule, but you won't be using it if you follow the instructions that I posted.

You will be using the Asus Wi-Fi. If all appears to be well after some upcoming checks, then we'll work on turning off the Wi-Fi on the Time Capsule, although there is no harm in leaving it on.....you just won't be using that Wi-Fi network. You will be using the Asus Wi-Fi to back up your Mac(s).

Synology NAS products are consistently recommended from users on this forum and I've used a Synology product in the past with flawless results with Time Machine.

Off hand, I can't think of another brand of NAS type product that I would recommend.

The NAS will connect to your Wi-Fi router using a permanent Ethernet cable connection, but you will be able to back up over the Wi-Fi if you prefer.