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grey bird
Level 1 (60 points)

Q: I just got a Time Capsule, and when I try to use it to extend my Airport n type network, it seems to take it over instead.

Could I be doing something wrong to cause this? The Time Capsule is hanging off the network on an ethernet cable and can be accessed by all the Macs over wireless, but I would like to use it to strengthen the signal at that end of the house.  When try to set it up the extend the network, It seems to take it over and knock off the Airport Extreme and Airport Express currently on it.  When I initially set it up, I selected "Extend network" but it changed it on its own to create network.  I later changed it back to extend, but it then took over and I had to turn off its wireless to get the Epress and Extreme back onto the network.  I had just updated the Airport Utility to the latest version on my Macbook Pro and Mini, but I have an iMac still on Snow Leopard that I believe is still running an older version.

Posted on Jul 19, 2013 12:43 AM

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grey bird

Q: I just got a Time Capsule, and when I try to use it to extend my Airport n type network, it seems to take it over instead.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Jul 19, 2013 4:23 AM in response to grey bird
    Level 9 (53,001 points)
    Wireless
    Jul 19, 2013 4:23 AM in response to grey bird

    If the TC is plugged in by ethernet then you must use roaming network.. not extend.

     

    See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4260

     

    If you want to extend the network.. then no ethernet is allowed.

     

    But if you are doing this to the latest AC model you lose all the advantage of the new unit.. you are better swapping thing around so the AC model is the main router or main WAP.

  • by grey bird,

    grey bird grey bird Jul 19, 2013 1:42 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 1:42 PM in response to LaPastenague

    I'm extending an N network and have no AC hardware, so that's not a problem.  I'll try this setup tomorrow when I have time.  Do you know a way to copy the access list from one base station to another other than manual typing?

  • by TehPwN,

    TehPwN TehPwN Jul 19, 2013 2:32 PM in response to grey bird
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 2:32 PM in response to grey bird

    Put the first router in bridge mode, and reconnect the time capsule. Next you're going to want to download airport utility 5.6, and reconfigure with that version

  • by LaPastenague,Helpful

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Jul 19, 2013 3:53 PM in response to grey bird
    Level 9 (53,001 points)
    Wireless
    Jul 19, 2013 3:53 PM in response to grey bird

    Do you know a way to copy the access list from one base station to another other than manual typing?

    Use the export and import of the settings.. which is available via the menu bar at the top of the airport utility.

  • by grey bird,

    grey bird grey bird Jul 19, 2013 6:06 PM in response to TehPwN
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 6:06 PM in response to TehPwN

    I'd heard that the newest version of the airport utility had... issues.  I believe that my iMac is still running and older version so I'll look there to see if it's running 5.6.  Thanks for the heads up.

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Jul 19, 2013 7:16 PM in response to grey bird
    Level 9 (53,001 points)
    Wireless
    Jul 19, 2013 7:16 PM in response to grey bird

    Actually I am not sure how much it is able to export of the old settings but worth a go.

     

    The file is xml format .. so it could be possible to extract info anyway.

     

    ?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

    <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

    <plist version="1.0">

     

    You can always load 5.6 utility onto any version of the OS from Lion following.

     

    How to load 5.6 into ML.

     

    1. Download 5.6 for Lion.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482

    Click to open the dmg but do not attempt to install the pkg.. it won't work anyway.

    Leave the package open on the desktop so you can see the file. AirportUtility56.pkg

     

     

    2. Download and install unpkg.

    http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/

     

     

    Run unpkg on the desktop.. If your Mac refuses to run the software, because it wasn’t downloaded from the Apple store, go to security in preferences and allow other software to work.. this is limitation of trade methinks. You can set back later if you like.

     

    Now drag the AirPortUtility56.pkg file over to unpkg.. and it will create a new directory of the same name on the desktop.. in finder, open the new directory, drill down.. applications, utilities .. there lo and behold is Airport utility 5.6 .. drag it to your main utilities directory or just run it from current location.

     

     

    You cannot uninstall version 6 (now 6.3 if you updated) so don't try.. and you cannot or should not run them both at the same time.. although I have had no problems when doing so.