Can a Time Capsule extend the range of a FiOS wireless router WITHOUT using Ethernet between them? Other options?
After months (years, really) of frustration with poor service from Comcast, I finally switched to FiOS yesterday. I have an MBP Retina, my wife has a MBA. I bought the latest Time Capsule in August (when I bought the MBPR). I never even opened the box; too busy with work and internet problems. (The damage from Hurricane Sandy had me without any internet connection from a month AND I work from home; I was running my iPad as a 4G hotspot during the outage -- kind of expensive).
We have a long house and signal strength from one end to the other has been a problem in the past. The FiOS modem with wireless router seems to have decent range, but there are still a few spots where it's pretty weak.
My question: is it possible to use the TC as a bridge without running Ethernet between it and the FiOS modem/router?
I would like to be able to place the TC at about the midpoint of our house (the FiOS router is at one extreme end, closest to my office so as to maximize signal when I'm working). I would like to avoid having to do a wall fish and not have to pull 40 feet of Ethernet. Can the TC find the signal of the FiOS modem/router WIRELESSLY in bridge mode? OR would I better returning the TC and putting the money towards something like a Netgear WiFi Booster or Extender and then getting a cheaper drive for backups? It doesn't seem to make much sense to keep the TC if I'm going to have it sitting so close to the FiOS box that it's not extending my signal range. But, because of the nature of our house, pulling a long run of cable is something I'd prefer to avoid.
Does the TC need to be attached with Ethernet or not?
I would like to keep my setup as simple as possible.
To add to the complexity, I also have an old Airport (about 12 years old) that served us well as a router of a non-wireless modem when we had Comcast. Can that old Airport be used another wireless bridge? I'm aware that I'll need to configure the old Airport using an old Mac running an old OS. Is this old Airport worth the hassle to set up?
Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Gen), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)