Adding Airport Extreme to Time Capsule for second network

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Adding Airport Extreme to Time Capsule for second network

I need a little advise regarding my networking setup.

I've previously been running an Airport Extreme with a Guest network and that has worked fairly well. My internet service has always had problems running with the Airport as the modem, so I've always run it in bridge mode and had the ISP modem connected via PPPoE.

I've upgraded to a Time Capsule and now realise I can't activate the Guest network while in bridge mode.

What I've done as a work around is connect the old Airport Extreme to an ethernet port on the Time Capsule and set it up as the "guest" network. Both are in Bridge mode and are running independant networks. My Airport Utility page shows:

Internet

|

Time Capsule

|

Airport Extreme

Both networks seem to be operating ok and I haven't run into any dramas.

Can anyone see any problems with the setup I've created?

AirPort Extreme 802.11n (5th Gen), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Apr 22, 2015 2:41 AM

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Answer 1

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LaPastenague

Level 9

67,202 points

Apr 22, 2015 3:23 AM in response to danielribo

A proper guest wireless is locked out of your network.. they only get internet access..

Your setup which is excellent.. has one flaw in that the local network is not secured against guest users..

This is minor issue if it is people you know.. and can trust.. !!

However if they are not known to you I would recommend some changes to prevent them accessing your network.. this might include putting the extreme into double NAT.. as that sometimes prevents them from gaining access.. although it can be possible if they are determined..

Your modem router might also offer some greater security like DMZ where you can setup the extreme directly to the main router and use a secndary IP or vlan.. this will have good security.

It is a shame that the TC cannot do PPPOE.. did you have another try??

I have the same issue though.. My airports are all useless at handling PPPOE with my ISP.. I also have to have them in bridge.

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Answer 2

danielribo Author

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Apr 22, 2015 3:25 AM in response to LaPastenague

Thanks. That was my one concern 😟

my (cheap) ISP still has issues with the TC PPPoE so I'm stuck using the modem.

HOw how do I go about setting up double NAT?

the users are generally ok. However as a whole it would be better to add a level of protection (if there's a way)

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Answer 3

Apr 22, 2015 4:20 AM in response to danielribo

Instead of bridge put the AE in DHCP and NAT mode..

It will always work better if you start from a factory reset.

Double NAT means there are two NAT routers in the network so it suffers from some issues..

Both routers must be on different IP ranges.. so you can use the AE plugged into either the modem or the TC.. although the modem may help.. you then need to check if you can access the computers in the other network.

In normal double NAT I have found this is a bit messy.. it simply is not always going to work.. but it often can..

What make and model is your modem router??

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Answer 4

danielribo Author

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Apr 22, 2015 4:39 AM in response to LaPastenague

Cool, thanks. I'll give that a try.

It's a Dynalink 1320 which is a pretty basic and boring one, however it was supplied by the ISP and works better than a few others I've tried. I've had a Netgear DG834G before and it suffered from dropouts (funnily enough.. only for 2 or 3 seconds but enough to cause issues loading pages etc)

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Answer 5

Apr 22, 2015 4:49 AM in response to danielribo

Ok.. I am in Melbourne so I suspect you are with TPG.

The 1320 is getting a bit old and is only the most basic router..

You cannot even plug both routers into it as it only has a single port.

I will need to think for a bit what to suggest for you..

BTW if you are going to have PPPOE issues.. TPG is the problem centre of the world.. they use cheap Chinese Hua Wei dslam and I doubt they know how to configure them.. as other ISP also use them without half the problems TPG have.

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Answer 6

danielribo Author

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Apr 22, 2015 5:24 PM in response to LaPastenague

Thanks. Yes, with TPG (In Sydney). The modem is the original one I got from TPG years and years ago. I've tried swapping it for a few other ones (including buying a half-decent netgear wireless unit) however anything else has caused problems. TPG are difficult, but cheap so I guess that's the trade off (and thus far it has generally worked ok). I'm hanging out for the NBN before investing in anything new!

I tried your suggestion. I've put the AE into DHCP & NAT. It now flashes orange and doesn't seem to be connected to the network. The Airport Utility page on the Mac shows:

Internet

|

Time Capsule

And the AE no longer shows on that page. It does, however, seem to be able to access the internet without any complaints.

I guess it's probably not the best setup, however it does seem to work at the moment. All I need from the AE is to run internet only (guest network for a small B&B).

What is odd... I've been running the AE for years in Bridge mode with the Guest network activated and it has worked fine. Latest research seems to suggest that it shouldn't have ever worked?!

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Answer 7

Apr 22, 2015 5:51 PM in response to danielribo

I tried your suggestion. I've put the AE into DHCP & NAT. It now flashes orange and doesn't seem to be connected to the network. The Airport Utility page on the Mac shows:

This is correct..

What you need to realise is the computer on the main network is now hidden from the airport extreme..

To access it simply change your wireless over to the AE wireless.. you can then access it to fix the flashing orange.. it will be a double NAT error.. ignore that.

What is odd... I've been running the AE for years in Bridge mode with the Guest network activated and it has worked fine. Latest research seems to suggest that it shouldn't have ever worked?!

We refer to the whole world of wireless networking as voodoo.. with the right selection of beads, rattles, feathers and chicken livers.. you can do anything.

I have no comment other than you are right .. it should not have worked.. I have no idea how it did work.. if it stopped then you can probably never get it back again.. that is the very nature of the power of voodoo.. !!

If you need help with the netgear assuming you still have it.. post on whirlpool... I can help you there.. 😉

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