Q: Can Time Capsule be set up as a second, local network?

"join an existing network", which was also set up without problems. But, it's a disaster! Time machine backups are  extremelly slow, blocks the entire network and mostly fails.

Exactly as expected. it is a poor network setup. TC is designed for Apple only networks. Not business device ever.

2. Connect the TC directly as an external HD to one computer via Ethernet, but I heard this is no good at all, as the TC is not conceived to be used as an external driver.

I agree, this is unlikely to work.. and the wrong type of equipment anyway.

1. Set up the TC again to create a network but without connecting to the internet (as I am not able to connect to the router). Big Con: The Macs cannot be set to access two networks at the same time, so either manually back up and access files or be in the office network and use the internet. Fail!

There is some work around's.

None may work 100%..

Is it possible to run ethernet from the TC to the computers you are talking about.. if so this is a snap.. Setup the TC on a different IP with no internet. Set each computer manually with IP address and no router (gateway) or DNS on ethernet.. You can then communicate on two different networks at the same time.

You can accomplish the same thing by wireless.. but you will need to buy N wireless USB dongles for each computer or ones that cannot use ethernet.. you can do a mix.. Same deal though.. setup the secondary wireless client in the Mac with static IP set to the TC.

It is no worse than plugging in USB-HDD to each computer.. and will allow you to share TC, files and printer easily.. the USB sticks are cheap.. just buy Mac OS compatible ones. And try to use 5ghz to keep all your stuff out of the way.. these are more expensive and range of 5ghz is not as good.. but it will keep your network apart from the rest of the business.. 2.4ghz being way overused these days.

3. The best solution is to talk the management into allowing you to plug in an Airport Express to the existing router. It would be simple AP mode.. then you can extend network to the TC and use TC on both bands.. !! Or ethernet even better. You need to think up a creative angle for this.. rather than a technical one.. Take the boss out for drinks.. get him to sign up whilst inebriated. .. that type solution (bribery and corruption in other words). 

I have recommended it in a few threads where people got stuck.. and feedback was that it worked fine. Finding the thread should be fun.. the search here is hopeless.

I repair TC and have at least 5 lying around at the moment in various states of repair.. I have no issues doing this kind of setup. And I have setup MBP with wireless dongles on a couple of occasions.. much against my will. I believe in ethernet.

The technical side of it, is easy.

Getting a decent USB stick for the Macs.. that might prove a bit of an issue. Buy one and see if it works well. I believe in ethernet.. wireless is for home laptops and ipads etc. For business. wires are unmatched.. service reliability.. etc.

The TC cannot be in bridge to hand out IP addresses.. other than that, it all is fine..

The reason I prefer setting manual addresses is to avoid gateway or dns issues.. as long as wireless is preferred network option in the list.. then it should be ok.. but if a computer gets stuck.. you can be pretty sure the gateway has got messed.

1. Which mode has the TC be set up (if not bridge?) and the computers (manual?)

 

TC really has only bridge and router.. so use it in router mode.. and as you did correctly.. just ignore the problems with WAN not having access to the internet or dns etc. The TC should still have dhcp running .. that is no problem.

2. Which IP range do you have to set in the TC and which adresses can be  assigned to the computers? Can you give an example of what could be possible and how it relates to each other?  I did once had a static IP configuration at home but as we grew Ipads , Iphones etc. it got too complicated and I quit that mode so I don't remember anymore how this works ...

I would really appreciate if you could add this instructions here, so all other people also get the whole picture! Thanks a lot!

The IP range you use is determined by the IP of the existing actual internet connection.. since you are getting wireless via the main router.. the rule is, you must be on a different IP range.. other than that it doesn't matter what you use.

This makes it impossible to answer without an actual example.. and understanding of private ip address ranges available to you.

Lets say the wireless IP address in the computer is 192.168.2.x (I use that so I can do screen shots for you.)

Check the address the wireless gets from network preference.

Now I want to run the TC over ethernet on a different subnet. This is convenient because the TC by default is 10.0.1.1 and will hand out addresses in that range.

So I plug in the TC by ethernet.

And it picks up the expected IP address, as per settings on the TC the range being 10.0.1.2-200.

So from airport utility.. using the 5.6 version of course. (all this is much harder in 6.x)

You can see the IP range.

In the computer since we don't want the now disconnected TC to provide either router (applespeak for gateway) or dns. We set the IP manually. do it logically and keep a list.. or be a bit tricky and keep dhcp but change the gateway and dns to the correct address..

so..

I actually put in the correct dns to stop it self filling in the wrong value. .that could be fixed via the advanced but it is better to use the correct dns from the wireless network. Leave the router value empty or fill in wireless value again the same as DNS more than likely. Or your ISP dns or google dns like 8.8.8.8

Make sure your order is also correct. Since your setup requires internet via airport use airport at the top of the network listing.

Now you can test things.. ping is the tool so open terminal and ping internet ISP, wireless router and TC.

MacProie-5:~ Ray$ ping www.aanet.com.au (my ISP)

PING aanet.com.au (203.24.100.73): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 203.24.100.73: icmp_seq=0 ttl=60 time=52.773 ms

64 bytes from 203.24.100.73: icmp_seq=1 ttl=60 time=51.656 ms

64 bytes from 203.24.100.73: icmp_seq=2 ttl=60 time=51.823 ms

^C

--- aanet.com.au ping statistics ---

3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0.0% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 51.656/52.084/52.773/0.492 ms

MacProie-5:~ Ray$ ping 192.168.2.254 (main router for wireless with internet)

PING 192.168.2.254 (192.168.2.254): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 192.168.2.254: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=1.814 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.2.254: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.469 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.2.254: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=1.490 ms

64 bytes from 192.168.2.254: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=1.463 ms

^C

--- 192.168.2.254 ping statistics ---

4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0.0% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.463/1.559/1.814/0.148 ms

MacProie-5:~ Ray$ ping 10.0.1.1 (Time Capsule)

PING 10.0.1.1 (10.0.1.1): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=0.431 ms

64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=0.179 ms

64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=0.179 ms

64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=0.172 ms

64 bytes from 10.0.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=0.180 ms

^C

--- 10.0.1.1 ping statistics ---

5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0.0% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 0.172/0.228/0.431/0.101 ms

Lets say you get wireless from another apple router which by default is of course exactly the same address as the TC.. so we need to move the IP of the TC.. lets go over to 192.168.1.x

Here things start getting a bit weird. TC as far as I can see has no direct access to the home IP so you change it via the dhcp.. it makes no sense but then it is apple product.

When I change the dhcp range the TC automagically changed to IP of 192.168.1.1

It took me a couple of goes to get it to work.. dont change anything on this page except the IP .. first time around.. then I reduced the dhcp range and also set the lease time much shorter as that help reduce issues with clients forgetting where the TC lives. What you do is up to you..

With the change in IP you will need to fix the static ip on the computer.

Note.. rather than leave the values blank I have filled in both router and dns to the actual values.. not the TC but the wireless router. This keeps everything consistent.

Finish your setup of the TC. using all nice SMB type names.. and setup wireless if you intend to use it or turn it off.

That should then work great.

What about one last step to actually save this configuration. If the TC goes mad.. they all have a tendency to insanity .. you then have a setup all ready to go..

Export the configuration file.