Use WAN or LAN Port ?
My network looks like this, although the actual diagram which the Airport Utility on OSX Mavericks generates tends to be a little random, whereas the IOS version always shows the one below.
What has me confused is the correct usage of the WAN / LAN ports, not just on the Airport Express but also on the Time Capsule.
I'm assuming that this might have some influence on how the diagram is being drawn as some people seem to have them arranged vertially.
So important points.
ALL devices are linked via physical ethernet cable on the same LAN
I am wanting to use them as Access Points rather than Wireless Bridges
I have a separate dedicated router which I need to keep.
Currently I have the Time Machine (only) connected to it's WAN port and the Express Box's connected via their LAN Ports
The Time Capsule was added first and the Express Box's were added to the existing network and have the same SSID/Passwords etc.
Everything seems to work, but it's just guesswork. I spoke to Apple who said the the Time Capsule had to be the "primary" box on the network or Time Machine backups would not work. I'm not sure how would designates it to be primary - that's why I'm using it's WAN port in some vain attempt to let it know it's different to the rest.
If someone could validate the config and perhaps explain under what circumstances you would connect these devices to the LAN using their WAN and/or LAN ports it would be great.
As I only have 1 physical ethernet port in one of the rooms it has struck me that it would be nice if I could attach the Express box to the LAN using one of the ethernet ports (WAN) and attach another device (Roku) using it's LAN port - would that be ok ?
Thanks in advance
Dave