MacBookPro suddenly stopped linking to my home network by Wi-Fi.

I'm a bit surprised I have had no response to this question. Have I supplied too much information?

NOPE! We need all the details we can get! You can never supply too much info. 😉

Sometimes, we don't know the answers or the answers may be already supplied in previous threads and/or Knowledge Base. You will have to do a forum & KB search if you have not already done so.

That being said, will give it a shot...

Try the basics first:

Change your router channel number. Most times this works & is all you have to do.

Disconnect & reconnect your modem. unplug it for about 10 seconds. Plug it back in. Do the same for Apple’s routers. Wait for everything to reboot.

System Preferences>Network

Click the Assist Me button.

In the next window that pops up, click the Diagnostic button & do the necessary.

Research Knowledge Base for network problems that pertain to the OS that is currently installed on your computer. See these basic networking KB Articles: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1401 AirPort troubleshooting guide

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4628
Wi-Fi: How to troubleshoot Wi-Fi connectivity

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712 Using network locations in Mac OS X

Manually provided DNS server addresses are higher priority than DHCP's

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1714 Solutions for connecting to the Internet, setting up a small network, and troubleshooting

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What to do when you can't connect to the Internet

Also, run the Airport Utility app which is located inside the Utilities folder.

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If using a Linksys router, contact LinkSys Customer Support and/or post in their forums.

If using Apple's Airport, please re-post over in one of the AirPort Forums.

I don't know what to enter for the IP address and the Subnet Mask.

You can this info directly from your ISP.

Re-starting router re-established internet connection. Any idea what might have caused it to drop out a couple of days ago?

There are numerous reasons. Some routers are more finicky than others, too many folks on one channel, faulty router, etc. Just to name a few.

Incidentally, the printer itself is wi-fi enabled, but I didn't get an option to link directly to the printer. Is that what you would expect?

Depends on the model printer I would assume. I have a wifi enabled Epson. Wireless "connections" are done directly from the printer, not from the comp. It even prints out a "connection OK" page. My printer even has the airport bars which shows all green when wifi is on & connection is excellent.

When "wifi" is on, the printer shows up in System Preferences>Print & Scan>Print. I have a custom name for my "wifi" printer & a custom name for when I use the printer w/o wifi. So I have 2 printer icons in System Preferences. This works for me (Epson).

I would also like to understand better the structure of my local network and what connects to what. Any suggestions?

Suggest that you post this question in the Time Capsule forum and research using Knowledge Base. Sorry, I do not use TC. I use AE (Airport Extreme) piggybacking off of a 3rd party router. The only thing I can add, is that my (all in one) Epson works best when connected directly to my iMac via USB. Wireless printing, copying & scanning is extremely fast. When not connected via USB, wireless printing is so slow, my great, great, great, great gandbabies will be around to watch the paper coming out. Also, I can't scan.