CenturyLink & Time Machine

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CenturyLink & Time Machine

I have DSL via a CenturyLink ZyXel C1000Z router. My AirPort Time Capsule works fine for wireless, and ethernet connected to this iMac, and my extended network to an Airport Express. In Airport Utility my Network is set to Off (Bridge Mode), also, Internet Connect is set to DHCP. When I go to Time Machine I get the message "Backup Disk Not Available". When I select the disk in Time Machine, and key in my password, I get the message that it cannot find the Disk, and to see my system manager?? What settings do I need, or is this a CenturyLink problem. Everything worked fine, when I first switched over to CenturyLink. I tried and failed to set up a Guest Network, which I have read is impossible with a Router/Modem in front of the Airport Time Capsule. Thanks from Montana.

Posted on May 2, 2016 8:54 AM

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Answer 1

May 2, 2016 2:21 PM in response to yellow a

Apple recently discovered unless the airport works as the main router of the network the network is patchy and drops out.

I am sure you can get everything working even now.. you simply need to power off everything. then do a full network startup in correct order.

Modem.. wait 2min

TC .. wait 2min

Express .. wait 2min

Client computers etc.

That will usually refresh all the tables and then TM will find the TC for a day or two.. maybe more and sometimes less.

A better method is to bridge the modem and use the TC in router mode doing PPPOE on the WAN interface..

I recommend you try it but with awareness that PPPOE is also problematic in the apple routers.. for some people (me included) it is unreliable and worse setup than bridge.

There is another setup.. a bit tricky to do but this works much more reliably for me.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5981989?answerId=25135547022#25135547022&ac_cid=tw123456#

What this does is add the TC as a secondary DHCP router to the network.. and it can help the clients keep track of the network.

You should also reset the TC and make sure you use all short names, no spaces and pure alphanumerics.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names.

Also you apply that same rule to the passwords.. but they can be 8-20 characters.. try to keep the names shorter than 8 characters.

eg TC base station name. TCgen5

Wireless names, TCwifi (or TC24ghz and TC5ghz)

You are also well advised to set IPv6 (as long as your adsl is still running IPv4) to link-local only in the computer.

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