Airport extreme and time capsule connection order in a roaming network

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Airport extreme and time capsule connection order in a roaming network

I plan to create a roaming network with my current Airport Extreme as the primary device connected to the internet and the new Time Capsule as the secondary device in Bridge mode. The connection between AE and TC will be wired (ethernet). Then I plan to connect the PC that needs backing up to the Time Capsule with an ethernet cable. Apart from the PC-backup functionality, I'd like to use the Time Capsule as a central NAS-device in my network. All other wired network devices that need access to the NAS (Apple TV, Xtreamer) are currently connected to the primary Airport Extreme with ethernet cables. My question: is there any reason why I should consider reversing the setup order, i.e. making the Time Capsule the primary device connected to the internet and the Airport Extreme the secondary device? Would this have a positive or negative effect on Time Capsule functionality and performance in the network? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

AirPort Extreme 802.11n (3rd Gen), Windows 7

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 2:30 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 29, 2013 2:40 AM in response to Beojet

Your Gen3 Extreme and all TC are gigabit.. as long as you connect with the required standard cable to have a gigabit connection between the two, there will effectively be no difference. In a home network you will struggle to saturate gigabit no matter what you do. Although the difference between the two configurations is really very small.

General rule is keep whatever is using the highest bandwidth closest and directly connected to whatever it is using.. shrug.. in this case you can follow or not.. it is more a guideline.

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Answer 2

Beojet Author

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Apr 29, 2013 3:04 AM in response to LaPastenague

Thanks La Pastenague! Since in my situation there is considerable network length between the primary device (currently AE) and the attached devices, I think I'll go by your guideline and make TC the new central unit connected to the internet, allowing the attached devices to access TC content at approximately similar network distance. Probably wouldn't ever have noticed the difference though... 😉. Thanks again!

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