Q: 2 TB TC Time Capsule Configuration with Guest Network and Multiple Airport Express
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. Using OS X and Airport Utility 6.3.2. 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.
MacBook Pro with Retina display, Mac OS X (10.0.x), null
Posted on Jul 26, 2015 11:26 AM