HT201510: Setting up Time Capsule for the first time

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hanfrac

Q: New Time Capsule - slow wifi

I purchased a refurbed Time Capsule through apple.com to replace a 4-5 year old Airport Extreme.  Getting it set up was a bear, as I wanted it to gather the existing wifi networks and replace the Airport Extreme rather than create new wifi networks.

 

Once I got it figured out, I ran a speedtest.  The Time Capsule was ranging from 10-20mbps, where the Airport Extreme was getting 50-80mbps.  I would swap them back and forth, including creating a 5mhz channel, which did improve the Time Capsule to 20mbps, but nowhere close to where the old Airport Extreme is at.

 

Are there any obvious things I should do to get this right?  Or is there any known flaw with Time Capsule?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Dec 27, 2015 9:27 AM

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Q: New Time Capsule - slow wifi

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  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Dec 27, 2015 12:12 PM in response to hanfrac
    Level 9 (52,471 points)
    Wireless
    Dec 27, 2015 12:12 PM in response to hanfrac

    Much depends on the equipment you are using to measure with.. often older equipment does not work as well with the very newest type of wireless.

     

    Tell us exactly what model TC it is.. ie is it the tall AC model? I cannot imagine Apple selling a Gen4 in refurbished store now.

     

    What age is the computer you are testing on?

     

    Getting it set up was a bear, as I wanted it to gather the existing wifi networks and replace the Airport Extreme rather than create new wifi networks.

    This is not a good way to optimise things.

     

    You need to start the network configuration from scratch.

     

    Replace the AE with the TC, so all you have is the modem plus the TC and do a clean fresh setup.

     

    Once I got it figured out, I ran a speedtest.

    Speedtest to the internet? Over wireless?

     

    Do a test over ethernet. Is it the same?

     

    If so the new gen TC has issues with some modems.. so tell us exactly what modem you have.. make and model??

  • by hanfrac,

    hanfrac hanfrac Dec 27, 2015 3:01 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 27, 2015 3:01 PM in response to LaPastenague

    Newest version Time Capsule 2TB refurb.  Computer is mid-2010 iMac.

     

    Set up where Time Capsule is to "replace an existing router" and manage the networks that were already created.  This is a standard Apple configuration.  If starting from scratch is necessary to get decent wireless throughput, I doubt they would have this an an option.

     

    I did speedtests, both wired and wireless, multiple times.  The wireless speedtests through AE were always fast and solid.  Through TC, performance was much less fast and readings were choppy, as if TC had trouble maintaining a steady signal.  With a wired connection, the AE was again more consistent than TC, although at times the TC gave readings that were comparable to the AE.

     

    In addition, when I had the TC set up and the AE powered down, using Airplay to linked Airport Expresses in my house for music streaming, the signal would cut in and out - songs would drop, then start.  So the wireless from TC was having trouble powering the Airport Express.

     

    The modem is an ARRIS cable telephony modem.

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Dec 27, 2015 9:57 PM in response to hanfrac
    Level 9 (52,471 points)
    Wireless
    Dec 27, 2015 9:57 PM in response to hanfrac
    The modem is an ARRIS cable telephony modem.

    The new AC model airport can have issues with some of the ARRIS modems.. any of the SB series in particular. That might be at least some of your problem.

     

    Setup the TC like this..

     

    Start from a factory reset. No files are lost on the hard disk doing this.

    Factory reset universal

    Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.

    N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.

     

    Setup the TC again.

     

    Then redo the setup from the computer with Mavericks--Yosemite--ElCapo. (MYELCAP)

    1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.

    eg TCgen5 for basestation and TCwifi wireless name.

     

     

    If the issue is wireless use TC24ghz and TC5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense. But this can be tried in the second round. ie plan on a first and second round of changes to fix this.. hopefully.. I will point out other steps that can be round2.

     

    2. Use all passwords that also comply with 1. but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.

     

    3. If the TC is main router you can skip this point. This is only an issue when the TC is bridged.

    Ensure the TC always takes the same IP address.. you will need to do this on the main router using dhcp reservation.. or a bit more complex setup using static IP in the TC. But this is important.. having IP drift all over the place when MYELCAP cannot remember its own name for 5 min after a reboot makes for poor networking.

     

    4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. but this change will mess up your TM backup.. so be prepared to do a new full backup. Sorry.. keep this one for second round if you want to avoid a new backup.

     

    5. Mount the TC disk in the computer manually.

     

    In Finder, Go, Connect to server from the top menu,

    Type in SMB://192.168.0.254 (or whatever the TC ip is which you have now made static. As a router by default it is 10.0.1.1 and I encourage people to stick with that unless you know what you are doing).

     

    You can use name.. SMB://TCgen5.local where you replace TCgen5 with your TC name.. local is the default domain of the TC and doesn't change.

    However names are not so easy as IP address.. nor as reliable. At least not in Yosemite they aren't. The domain can also be an issue if you are not plugged or wireless directly to the TC.

     

    6. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only. Do the same for ethernet if you use it.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    There is a lot more jiggery pokery you can try but the above is a good start.. if you find it still unreliable.. don't be surprised.

     

     

    You might need to do some more work on the computer itself. eg Reset the NVRAM/PRAM/SMC.. has helped some people. Clean install of the OS is also helpful if you upgrade installed.

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/message/29202159?ac_cid=ha123456#29202159

     

    Tell us how you go.

  • by hanfrac,

    hanfrac hanfrac Dec 27, 2015 11:16 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 27, 2015 11:16 PM in response to LaPastenague

    Thanks for taking the time.  Given that the old Airport Extreme is working great, I am going to stick with it and return the TC to Apple.  It sounds like TC is not as good a match for my machines and my cable provider as the AE is and while I would love the integrated hard drive, it sounds like too much work to try to get it to work.  And the fact that it might still be unreliable is a deal killer.

     

    Thanks again.