3TB Time Capsule configuration help - Bob Timmons

I took the TC out of the box, connected the WAN port on the TC to the WAN port on the G1100 and moved all three other ethernet connections over to the TC.

Leave the other three Ethernet devices connected to your FIOS gateway for now.

The Ethernet cable needs to connect from a LAN <--> port (not the WAN port) on the FIOS to the WAN "O" port on the Time Capsule, and that cable will need to be left connected at all times.

Follow the instructions in the Time Capsule Setup Guide, and post back if you get stuck. We will need to know what operating system you are using on your computer to set up the Time Capsule, or whether you are using an iPhone or iPad for the setup.

My goal is to only have one SSID for my entire house with maximum throughput possible.

I'm not clear on where the Time Capsule will be located. Near your FIOS gateway.......or will it be located a few rooms away from the FIOS gateway?

If the Time Capsule is going to be located near the FIOS gateway, and you only want one SSID, then you will need to either turn off the wireless on the FIOS or the Time Capsule. We can tell you how to turn off the wireless on the Time Capsule, but not for the FIOS other than provide very general guidelines. You will likely need to get in touch with FIOS support on this, if you plan to use only the Time Capsule wireless.

If the Time Capsule is going to be located a few rooms away from the FIOS gateway, then the Time Capsule could be configured to use the exact same SSID and password as the FIOS gateway to provide what is known as a "roaming" type network.

Try to separate the FIOS and TC a bit if possible, as two routers in close proximity to each other can sometimes create some strange interference effects....even if the wireless is turned off on one......that are really tough to troubleshoot.

For good wireless performance, think of a wireless router as if it were a water sprinkler. The goal is to get as big of an area as wet as possible as quickly as possible. Any obstructions near the router are going to take a toll as far as the signal range and speed of the network are concerned.

Sorry, not sure if I am following everything. You never want two routers to use the same SSID if they will be located close together.

If the TC will be located a few rooms away from the FIOS gateway, then you can use the same SSID for both the FIOS and TC.

If the TC and FIOS will remain close together, you want to use one SSID on the FIOS and a different SSID on the TC.

At this point, you can leave the other Ethernet devices connected to the FIOS, or move them over to the TC if you prefer. Up to you.

Sure.

If you are testing things out and have the time when you can, I would be interested to learn whether one router has significantly better range than the other.

The TC....and probably the FIOS gateway....will both automatically scan and select the best channel to use, so normally you really don't need to worry about this at all.

Even if you manually select a channel....which might look good at the time....other routers around you are continually changing their channels, so what might be a good channel this afternoon may well be an overcrowded channel this evening.

While it won't hurt to manually set channels...and some users swear by doing this.....I've never found that there was much of a benefit to doing this, and I found myself wasting a good bit of time checking channels all the time. So, I've used the Automatic setting for the last 4-5 years and never looked back.

If you want to manually set the channels.....

Open AirPort Utility and click on the Time Capsule, then click Edit in the smaller window that appears

Click the Wireless tab at the top of the window, then click the Wireless Options button

The channel settings are here....click Update to save any changes

Bridge Mode is the correct setting to use with the FIOS gateway, since you would not want to have two devices, both trying to act as a router for the same network. One chief is enough. Two chiefs, and there will be much confusion.

So I have a similar question and I too have noticed that Bob seems to be well versed in these issues. I am new to this forum so I apologize in advance if this is not the correct format for posting this question and the length of the post. A little history. We recently moved into a large 3 story home and I wanted to setup a primary wireless network and guest network for my kids with timed access. Service comes into a basement HVAC room full of metal ducting (not an ideal location for a TC which I will address later). I have a AV closet which houses a rack mounted audio and security system on the first floor and have (2) hardwired connections to the basement service area and another to a Study on the opposite end of the house on the first floor. From the AV closet I recently ran CAT5 home runs to the second floor and basement and installed a Netgear switch with the goal of installing hard wired Airport Expresses for increased coverage. It should be noted that I cannot without great difficulty get any additional wires from the service area directly to the AV closet.

Prior to today I had the following setup which was more of a temporary setup

I have a new 2TB TC (ME177L1/A) in the Study that I used to replace an oder 1TB TC that I thought may have been on the fritz (see below) and an Airport Express acting as a wireless extender in the AV closet.

The TWC Arris TG1672G Router was in Routed with NAT mode (although I was under assumption it was in bridged mode as that is what I asked TWC to do)-connected to it was security system from AV closet and TC located in Study-Things worked well at times, but I seemed to have random outages that I could not explain. A ping plotter at the router indicated I had a good internet feed.

Today I had TWC Signature Tech come out to investigate the issue and explain I wanted to hook up my Netgear switch and (2) additional Airport Expresses in the basement and second floor areas where I had run CAT5. This would take me to a total of (3) Airport Express units.

He explained that if I wished to have the TC create a wireless network and maintain the most flexibility I would need to move the TC to the basement as now that the Arris was in true bridged mode and not Routed with NAT only port 1 on the Arris would be active so my previous connections to port 2 (which fed the security system) would need to be relocated.

My question is as follows. With the TC in the basement and connected to the (1) active port on the Arris I now have (3) LAN ports that I can use coming out of the TC. Can I put a Netgear Gigabit (JGS524) switch in front of the Airport Expresses and still be able to configure as noted above? Will this effect throughput? If I cannot put the Netgear switch in front of the Airport Expresses can I use the output of the Airport Express to provide bandwidth to the Netgear switch and not lose throughput?

I hope this makes sense.

Please start a new post for your question. It will only take a minute or two to copy/paste the text into a new post.

If I see it, and another user has not already answered, I will reply.

Hi there - question for you on whether you stuck with your Fios router or ended up strictly using the TC? I use Fios solely for internet use (not TV)... wondering if worth canceling now that I've purchased a TC. Thanks!

The Fios router is really a modem/router, also known as a gateway. It combines the functions of a separate modem and separate router in one single package.

The Time Capsule is a router only.....no modem on board.....(although it has a built in hard drive for data storage).....so if you remove the Fios modem/router, the Time Capsule will not be able to access the Internet.

It would be nice if Fios offered a simple modem.....since you don't really need a combination modem/router or gateway....but I don't think that they offer that type of product. Might be worth checking with them though.