Time capsule setup in hotel??

Bob is the expert at this sort of setup..

The problem of needing to use a login makes it that much harder but bob worked out a method using airport express.. which bridges to the connection.. you then link it to the WAN of the TC.. and then have the computer handle the login.

Overall I think if you are staying there for several months.. this is going to become tiring because I would guess that there are time limits on the login ..

Is the TC the right way to do backups.. if you bought it just for backups.. honestly I would return it and get a standard USB drive and plug that into the MBP and do backups direct to external drive.

If you desperately want to do wireless backups that is also possible.. we will need to add another wireless to the MBP via a USB wireless stick.. but it is possible.. otherwise you will need to setup the TC in isolation to the main network and simply swap the laptop to TC wireless when you do backups.. which is less than ideal but still possible.

Tell us what you want way you prefer.. and we can try and figure it out.. if you really want it connected to internet via the wifi login system.. be aware the time out on that is going to drive you nuts.

Hotel setups using Ethernet connections used to be easy......before the hotels started requiring log in information.

We can try to help, but there are no guarantees of success......and you will need to be very patient. This is going to require some "try this" and "try that" since hotels have started to use all kinds of tricks to keep users from connecting a router (like the Time Capsule) to their networks.

So, in order to set up the Time Capsule, you will have to figure out how to trick the hotel network. Post back if you want to spend some time on this.

It might be possible to do this a number of ways but to begin with you need a second device.. like an airport express so it can pick up the wireless internet and connect it to the TC WAN port by ethernet.

The TC must be in router mode not bridge.. and it has to be on a different IP range to the wireless room connection.

So first thing we need is a screen shot of the wireless connection in your computer when connected to the hotel network.. showing us the IP address gateway and dns.

So please post these ones..

From then on it gets tricky but for now you might be able to setup ICS in the computer using ethernet to the TC..

Please have a try.. read up the instructions for ICS for your particular OS in the MBP.

For instance Mavericks here.

OS X Mavericks: Share your Internet connection

Most of the OS should be similar.

Bob can help you using the Express instead of the computer to setup the share.

Normally, an AirPort Express is only needed when the hotel provides wireless only....and you need to get an Ethernet connection to the Time Capsule.

So, in that type of setup, the AirPort Expess is set up to "join" the hotel wireless network, then an Ethernet cable is connected from the LAN <--> port on the Express to the WAN "O" port on the Time Capsule, which is set up as a router. You get a Double NAT indication when you do this, but there is an option to ignore the NAT message, so the Time Capsule will display a green light.

Since you do have an Ethernet connection in the room, you should be able to connect the Time Capsule directly to the Ethernet port and set it up in router mode. This will be tricky though, since the setup "wizard" on your Mac will want to configure things differently, so we'll need to go back in and manually change some settings from the basic setup.

At this point, it appears that LaPastenague is thinking about a different type of setup, so to avoid confusion, you need to decide on whether you want try LaPastenague's method, or the one that I would try if I were in the hotel room. I'm not saying that one is right and other is wrong, there are different approaches that can be taken. We may both be wrong, or both right......arriving at the same destination in a different way.

So, I suggest that you flip a coin, and decide which approach you want to try.

scottdunc1979 wrote:

Wow quick replies again :-) thank you

As i currently do not have an Airport Express it seems logical to try Bob's method first and see how we get on, if your both ok with this.

Sorry try bob's method.

My error as I did not understand you have ethernet into the room.

We do want to see what IP you are getting so those screenshots are relevant whichever way you go.

First, you will need to reset the Time Capsule (TC) back to factory default settings as follows:

Power off the TC by pulling the power cord from the back of the TC and wait a minute

Hold in the reset button on the back of the TC first, and keep holding it for an additional 10 seconds while you simultaneously plug the power back into the TC

Release the reset button after the hold period and allow a full minute for the TC to restart to a slow, blinking amber light status

This reset will not affect any of the backups that you might have stored on the TC hard drive, or any other files that you might have there.

Connect the Ethernet cable from the hotel wall port to the WAN "O" port on the TC

Use wireless on your Mac for the setup. Later, you can connect using Ethernet if you wish.

Click the WiFi icon at the top of the screen and look for a listing of New AirPort Base Station

Just below that, click on Time Capsule

The illustration below shows an AirPort Express, but you will see Time Capsule on your screen

The setup utility will open up and take a minute to look at the network, then a screen that looks like this should appear, except that you will see a TC icon:

Network Name...........Enter a short, simple name for your private wireless network. For example,, something like sdwireless would be good.

Base Station Name....Enter a short simple name that you want to call the Time Capsule. Mine is TC, for example.

Password...................Enter a password that will be used for both the wireless and the TC. Write that down for safe keeping

Verify..........................Enter the same password again

Click Next

The setup wizard will hopefully configure everything for you. When you see the message of Setup Complete, click Done

At this point, there should be a green light on the TC, and you should be able to use your Mac to select the new wireless network that you named and enter the password to connect

Once you have done that, open up Safari or another browser and the hotel log in page should appear

Log in to the hotel network

Spend a few minutes to make sure that you can log onto other web sites, etc.

There are more settings that will need to be adjusted before any other devices can connect, so please post back at this point to confirm that things are working so far......or, if they are not, post back with as much detail about the problem at hand, and any error messages that you might have seen.

Not good. Stop the setup. The screen that you see should only be there for 15-20 seconds or so.

You will need to check some settings on your Mac.

Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock)

Open Network

Click on WiFi on the left to highlight it

Click Advanced at the lower right

Click the TCP/IP tab

Make sure that the setting for Configure IPv6 is set to Link Local Only

Click OK

Click Apply in the next window

Now repeat the same sequence as above except click on Ethernet to highlight it

Restart your Mac

Power off the restart the Time Capsule again

Start over with the setup again to see what happens

OK, now the real challenge begins.

On your Mac....open Finder > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility

Click on the Time Capsule icon, then click Edit in the smaller window that appears

Click the Network tab at the top of the next window

Change the setting for Router Mode to read DHCP and NAT

Click Update at the lower right of the window

If luck is on our side, the Time Capsule will restart again in about a minute, but it will display a slow, blinking amber light

We will fix that later

Power off the Time Capsule and wait a minute

Power up the Time Capsule again and wait a minute

Open up Safari again and the hotel splash page will likely appear again

Go ahead and log on again and check to make sure that your Mac can access other websites, like it could before

Next, power up another device like an iPhone, iPad etc and connect it to the wireless network that the Time Capsule is providing.

Then, see if you can log onto the Internet without having to enter the hotel log on credentials

If yes, try another device the same way, so that all devices are connected to the Time Capsule and they can all access the Internet

Post back on your progress