Siemen's Speedstream router and Airport Time Capsule

Question

Siemen's Speedstream router and Airport Time Capsule

Hi everyone. Apologies if this has been addressed, but I can't find anything similar.

I bought an Airport Time Capsule, have it set to extend a wireless network, because I already have a router (a Siemen's Speedstream from Bell Aliant to which I'm not overly attached) and just want to back up my MBP.

Ever since adding the TC my wifi has been dropping off every few minutes. I'm guessing I mucked something up in the process, or that interference is coming from somewhere. When I open Network Diagnostics and click through the steps, the red lights either turn green and it tells me that it appears to be working correctly, or I get a message that Network Change has been detected, after clicking okay, red lights turn green and I can connect for a few minutes, until the next time. As you probably have guessed, it's making backing up my MBP frustrating.

I've tried restarting everything, including the router, and that did not help

If you have any suggestions, or would like more info about the problem, please let me know.

Thanks Muchly

Mike

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), null

Posted on Jan 3, 2015 5:48 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 3, 2015 5:59 PM in response to kombattwombatt

Hello Mike..

Wombats are my favourite animal.. They refer to politicians here as having all the Charisma of a dead Wombat.

Still you are with Bell so definitely North America where I doubt you have native wombats..

I need to know what Speedstream and working in what mode?

Adding a TC is usually fine.. but you must add by connecting it with ethernet to the main router. From what you are saying, extend a wireless network, is only possible if you have another apple router. If you have the wireless on the TC set to either Join a wireless network, or Extend a wireless network it is wrong. (unless you have another apple router you forgot to mention).

The TC must be bridged to a router.. which is plugged in by ethernet and set to create a wireless network.

The next problem is yosemite.. it is unreliable on the wireless network especially with Time Capsule or other apple router... which makes no sense, I know.. It is where the Wombats come in. Apple now has the Charisma of dead Wombats.. Yosemite in upgrade install can be disaster on the wireless side.

There are a few suggestions I can make but please give me all the details.

What Speedstream? Is it in router mode?

How is the TC setup exactly?

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Answer 2

Jan 3, 2015 6:12 PM in response to LaPastenague

Hi!

I feel kind of like a dead wombat.

Thanks so much for the reply. The speedstream is a 6520 and serves as modem/wireless router.

When I first tried to set up TC, I tried setting up a new network, but I ended up with two networks, one for the Speedstream and one for the TC, only the TC network wouldn't connect to the internet. That is when I tried changing TC to extending a network instead of creating one. I've also got the TC connected to the Speedstream via an ethernet cable (since the beginning). I don't have any other Apple routers.

This is what I see in Airport Utility:

Thanks again!

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Answer 3

Jan 3, 2015 7:30 PM in response to kombattwombatt

Thanks for giving screenshots.. that helps no end.

Speedstream 6520 is a model we know well here in Australia.. It is past its prime.. in fact it is desperately in need of bridging or replacement.

They are woeful routers.. albeit it is actually a decent modem.. I use a speedsteam 4200 myself.. in bridge.

I did try TC doing PPPOE but that also turned out a failure but with Bell it might work fine.

You might find the 6520 is locked so you cannot bridge it.

When I first tried to set up TC, I tried setting up a new network, but I ended up with two networks, one for the Speedstream and one for the TC, only the TC network wouldn't connect to the internet.

Your current setup is wrong.. it will not work. You cannot extend a non apple wireless router at all..

So your mode is correct.. bridge but you must create a wireless network. I suggest you either turn off the speedstream wireless or use same wireless name in the TC as the speedstream.

Go back to this setup and see if you can get it working.. Happy to work through the issues...

BUT.. think about it..

What about buying a suitable new modem.. it is well due for it.

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Answer 4

Jan 4, 2015 7:05 AM in response to LaPastenague

Hi again,

Thanks. I think I may end up buying one.

It finally almost finished backing up. Now, Time Machine just shows "Backing Up" with no numbers given. Or if I restart it it will show the backup as having just .2 gb left to go, but then the size of the back up just keeps growing.

Oy.

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Answer 5

Jan 4, 2015 1:24 PM in response to kombattwombatt

That is probably just Yosemite which is buggy as !heaven.

I can only suggest for now.. get a USB drive.. plug it into the computer and do a backup to the local external disk instead of the TC network drive.. it is far more reliable, faster and more efficient. The whole networking is buggy on Yosemite and causing everyone problems.

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