Apple Time Capsule & Sky Q Router

Hi LaPastenague

I have a very similar problem as mathewfromstonehaven just moved to Sky and their Q Hub but from EE, setup TC with EE router no problem, Setup for sky Q no connection, I've done Full Reset's more than once but still the same, seemed it was not getting an IP address so set this to static on TC and reserved the IP address on the router. The strange is there is green lights everywhere But no connection to internet unless I reset the Q Hub this would then give me a connection.

So after seeing your post I've gone further and set IPv6 to Link-local only and swapped over from the WAN to LAN port but still no connection to internet without resetting the Q Hub.

so wondered if there was anything else I could try? Or stick to setting the Sky Q Hub every time. Thanks

You do need to realise I am not in the UK.. and Sky and Q Hub and EE mean almost nothing to me.

Reading back through the thread I find it hard to add anything much.

You have done most of the things correctly.. If it works after a reset of the Sky Q hub .. how often is that happening?? Daily? Weekly? Hourly??

Are any devices in the house still using the QHub as their main connection?

Is there a set limit to the number of IP addresses the Qhub is allowed to handle?

Has the Q hub actually locked itself up?

A good test to perform when the TC fails to work.. using a computer plugged into the Qhub directly see if you still have internet. Or use a wireless connection but I never trust wireless to give reliable test results.

Does the Qhub offer logging?

If it is locked up obviously you cannot access the log but that is irrelevant because the problem is clear.

If you can still get a working internet connection on the Qhub but not via the TC, you will need to do some more diagnostics.

What does the log show??

Also DHCP and ARP tables if they are available can be very useful.

Perhaps fill in the above Q&A first..

Also is there a proper user manual to the Sky Q Hub you can point me to.

I am particularly interested in limitations that the ISP might have built in like 10 clients max..

Hi

I think my problem is fixed

I didn't realise that I had a cat 5e extension fitted to extend the network some years ago now and it also ran the phone line as well, when ! tested the cable lines 1,2,3 and 6,7,8 were connected leaving 2 for the phone line as I thought it only needed 4 line 1,2,3 & 6 it should have been OK, But using the other 2 line in 4&5 as well seems to have done the trick.

Thanks for your help anyway 🙂

duplicate post.

I have reset the Time Capsule, however it simply refuses to connect.

Did you do a full factory reset? This is really necessary if you are going to change over network connections with a new router. No files are lost doing this.

I have read in places that i need to untick all sorts of things on the Sky Q settings

You are better posting in UK forum area as what issues SkyQ has is specific to them.. but mostly there is no real reason to do anything to the skyQ .. as long as you are happy using two separate wireless network.

When you run through the TC setup via the airport utility it might try and force the TC to take over as the main router. This is a mistake. The TC should be in bridge mode.. and it MUST create a wireless network.. I recommend using a different wireless name to your sky router. Passwords can be identical if that helps you to remember them.

If you keep having issues.. you should remember to also set IPv6 correctly in the TC.. ie Link local only and the same on the computer.

Any further problems simply post a screenshot of TC from the airport utility showing its setup and the errors you are getting.

Ok.. your TC has not got a proper IP from the router..

That means your TC will not work..

In order to fix it I need to see what the setup is like when you plug in a computer.. either by ethernet or wireless.

If the router is working correctly it should pass an IP to the computer in the private address space.. 10.x.x.x or 192.168.x.x most likely.

It is perfectly safe to show me what you get.

Then we need to set your TC with a static IP in the right range and move the connection.

Just double check now that your TC is setup with its WAN port plugged into a LAN port of the sky router.. I believe it only has 2 available ports so either one.

Sorry for the long gaps.. we are on opposite sides of the world.

I will show you how I would do this setup.

1. Login to the TC and setup a static IP on the WAN interface.

The numbers I have suggested here should work.

Setup the Internet options to turn IPv6 to Link-local only.

2. Make sure you are still set to bridge on the LAN tab.

3. Update the TC so it now changes to the new settings.

4. This should work without any other changes so test if you have internet via the TC.

If it does not work make sure the small LED on the ethernet port is lit. This light is called connectivity. Ethernet lights up whenever a cable is connected between two ethernet devices.. there should be a light on your SkyQ router as well. If this is not lit ethernet is not working.. test with a different ethernet cable.

(Note the port at the top is LAN port.. right at the bottom is WAN.. both are lit green)

5. Move the connection from WAN to LAN port on the TC.

This is the bit that is probably different. Once in bridge you can move the ethernet connection from WAN to a LAN port.. we have discovered the WAN port on the TC is unreliable with some routers. By moving to LAN port the TC is much more likely to make the connection.

Now test the internet again.. If this fails there is something else going wrong.

I do have another method of setup which has proved successful.. the change is not great but it works by adding the TC as a dhcp server..

Tell me how the instructions for bridge method goes before we get into more complicated setups.

My apologies for piling on to your post/question Matthewfromstonehaven, however you pretty much summed up my situation exactly - I have put LaPastenague's recommendations into my older Base Station/TC and green lights are all good. Thanks!!!

Can I ask two questions additional for input from anyone who knows this stuff.

My reason for no longer using my Airport Base Station as the primary for my house is that when I upgraded to 100 Mbs connection I was getting very low throughput approx 40-50. That scenario had the cable provider wireless in bridge mode and my ABS as the device creating the wireless network. When I called they of course asked me to take the "nasty apple product" out of the mix and so I did. The result was a noticeable and dramatic improvement (140-150 Mbs).

My ABS is a few years old now but does it seem strange that it would be so much slower. I don't know a lot about networking but I know I had it in the setting a/n/g (??) settings that allowed for the greatest speed and I had both a 2ghz and 5ghz connection available.

Part of me says to just go with what is working but it bugs me that I am not able to rely on my much loved apple product to deliver my network services. Is it me or is this a generally accepted limitation of the old ABS.

My second - shorter question is, now that i have a green light on my base station and can see my time capsule - does that mean it will still work as hub for my printer and other usb storage disks - or is it better to turn the wifi signal off to lessen interference?

Thanks for the help you have already provided and thanks for letting me "pile on".

my older Base Station/TC

Sorry but you need to spell it out..

Is this one product.. or two?

I need the exact model.. Assuming it is not the tower AC version then on the base (first line of moulded txt in the rubber.. or on the paper label) tell me the A1xxx number.

The actual speed will depend on a number of factors but you should always run a test with ethernet first.. wireless off. If the speed is slow over ethernet that indicates a WAN issue..

** Did you try my swap WAN to LAN trick with bridged ABS**

See point 5 above.. this can fix a lot of problems.

If you have slow speed over 2.4ghz that is because Apple deliberately restrict it. You will max out around 60Mbps in any older ABS/TC using 2.4ghz.. because Apple restricted wireless.

You must use 5ghz.. which means using a different wireless name for 5ghz..

Then you must check the link speed in the computer.. hold down option key and click the wireless fan.

This is with AC wireless.. so I am showing off a bit..

Look at the Tx rate.. it must exceed the throughput by x3 .. ie to get 150Mbps actual speed.. you need a wireless link of 450Mbps or near to.

My second - shorter question is, now that i have a green light on my base station and can see my time capsule - does that mean it will still work as hub for my printer and other usb storage disks - or is it better to turn the wifi signal off to lessen interference?

There are enough wireless channels to use 3 wifi routers in close proximity to each other. So there is no need to turn off wifi in the TC.

It will act as hub for printer and usb storage etc.. but network reliability maybe poor if you link to the main router instead of the TC direct.

Sometimes wireless does cause issues if the auto channels don't work..

Open wireless diagnostics on your computer.

It is in the screenshot I posted.

Open the scan (wireless diagnostics themselves are pretty useless).

In the scan make sure the channels are widely separated or the power levels (RSSI) are very largely differences.

Your current connection will show up in bold.. and it should show markedly better signal and hopefully a wide gap with other wireless channels being used.

Post your scan if you need help to understand it.

Wow thanks and I think the hardest part of this so far has been trying to get my eyes to be able to focus on the numbers you were looking for.

What I saw is IC 579C-A1355 - in any case it is a single device which includes a 1TB TC and I believe it is the last model prior to the release of the tower type. (is the range significantly improved on the newest Base Stations?)

The other details you provide give a lot of information to chew on and some great specific follow ups - so thank you.

It would appear that my provider's modem has a TX of 504 Mbs and my BS is aprox 450 Mbs (on the 5ghz channel) - however this is all being measured with my current set up - not the original that I migrated from. Having said that your guidance suggests that I am capable of getting what I need with the tools that I have.

I suspect I am experiencing both the limitation of the 2.4ghz channel in some cases - which I didn't really pay attention to prior and likely your tip on the WAN vs LAN port which I will explore when my kids have come down from the ceiling after enduring this most recent and egregious 1 hour outage as I made the transition.

Thanks again.

my kids have come down from the ceiling after enduring this most recent and egregious 1 hour outage as I made the transition.

You need to dress up as the tooth fairy.. that will bother them so much they can ignore the internet dropout.

😁

A1355 - in any case it is a single device which includes a 1TB TC and I believe it is the last model prior to the release of the tower type.

No, yours is Gen3.. it is fairly old now.. the next model A1409 (gen4) made a huge improvement to the wireless power output.. and used broadcom instead of marvell wireless which works a lot better. Then Gen5 A1470 is the AC model which is fairly old now even. 3 years+ so your gen3 is probably 6 years +

http://www.apple.com/au/airport-time-capsule/specs/

Any of them will connect at 450Mbps (under the right conditions).. on any computer from 2011 but the range of the Gen4 is better.

(is the range significantly improved on the newest Base Stations?)

Compared to the Gen3.. yes.. compared to the Gen4 no.. although people report different things. WiFi is more a voodoo technology.. 50% science and about 80% black arts.

If the Gen3 is close to the computer.. and plugged into ethernet.. then you should be able to achieve 150Mbps actual throughput.. on a good day with the wind in the West. And the crescent moon.

NOTE there was a problem on the A1354 (AE equivalent to the TC) where the manufacturer got the antennas wired wrongly.. I have no idea if the same thing happened in the TC.. but if the RSSI is very low check it.