Apple Airport Time Capsule 3GB and BT Home Hub 5 Problem

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Level 1

21 points

Apple Airport Time Capsule 3GB and BT Home Hub 5 Problem

Following the recent storms my Apple Airport Time Capsule was damaged and would not work and so I purchased a new one but cannot get it to work properly - my previous one had worked perfectly for about 4 years and has 3 Apple AirPort Express Units connected to extend the network.

The TC is connected to the BT Home Hub by a ethernet cable and the wireless feature is not used on the BTHH

As can be seen one of the Airport Express Units is showing 2 problems together with Airport Time Capsule - these problems are indicated as "internet connection" and "No DNS Servers"

The settings are as follows Connect Using DHCP, Configure iPv6 Link-local only and Router Mode Off (Bridge Mode) and using Sierra.

Any suggestions would be appreciated and thanks in advance.

Time Capsule 802.11n (3rd Gen), Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Oct 21, 2016 10:19 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

158,718 points

Oct 22, 2016 9:04 AM in response to fireman999

The graphic (which is not always accurate) is currently showing that all of your AirPort base stations are connected by wireless (dotted line).

I would suggest, at this point, to start over and "rebuild" your network by adding the base stations back one-at-a-time, starting with the Time Capsule (TC). Also to prevent any additional connectivity problems, I would further suggest that you use simpler names for each of your base stations. They should not include spaces or special characters and be 16-characters or less in length. For example, the Time Capsule can be named TC; each of the Express base stations, could be named: AX1, AX2, & AX3.

Basically, you will want to:

Power-down all of the AirPort base stations and BT Home Hub.
Perform a "factory default" reset on all of the base stations.
Verify that the Ethernet cable coming from the Home Hub is going to the WAN (circle-of-dots) port on the TC.
Power-up the Home Hub; wait at least 5-10 minutes to be sure it initializes.
Power-up the TC; wait at least 5 minutes for it to initialize.
Using the AirPort Utility configure the TC as required. Note: If the Home Hub will remain as your "main" router, then the TC should be configured as a bridge.
Verify that you can gain Internet access with both the Home Hub and the TC.
Power-up one AirPort Express base station (AX). Use the AirPort Utility to configure it to extend the wireless range of the TC. Verify that you can gain Internet access from this AX.
If successful, add back the remaining AXs the same way.

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Answer 2

fireman999 Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 22, 2016 1:43 PM in response to fireman999

Thanks for your kind help and I have carried out the set up exactly as you stated but it is still showing the same 2 problems - after I set up the TC I then changed the Router Mode to Off (Bridge Mode) and that did not appear to make any difference so I also Changed the Internet Options - Configure iPv6 to (Link local only) but still the same.

I have not yet connected the other Airport Express Units.

Looking at the problems on my iPad the status messages say "Internet Connection Your AirPort base station does not have a valid IP address. Make sure your Airport base station is connected to your broadband modem or local network, verify your settings and try again. If you still can't connect , contact your Internet Service Provider." The second problem is " No DNS Servers This Airport base station doesn't have any DNS server addresses and might have trouble connecting to the internet"

The settings that are used are under Internet - Connect Using : DHCP - there are no DNS servers shown.

Do you think that these settings are ok?

Thanks again

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Answer 3

Oct 23, 2016 1:17 AM in response to fireman999

If a storm damaged the TC it will most likely also damage the HH5.

Please check that a computer plugged into it by ethernet does get an IP address.

You could also test with one of the express units. Although your first picture shows that setup.

I would say your HH5 has damage as well.

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Answer 4

fireman999 Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 23, 2016 2:05 AM in response to LaPastenague

Sorry, I forgot to mention that as you say the HH5 was damaged and that was replaced.

Thanks

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Answer 5

fireman999 Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 23, 2016 2:23 AM in response to fireman999

Should there be an address here for the DNS Servers/

Thanks

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Answer 6

fireman999 Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 23, 2016 3:09 AM in response to LaPastenague

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Answer 7

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,826 points

Oct 23, 2016 6:33 AM in response to fireman999

Don't worry about the AirPort Express until you find out why there are currently 2 issues with the Time Capsule, as you can see by the red badge with the number "2" next to the Time Capsule.

Once you have the 2 Time Capsule issues resolved.....then....you can work on the AirPort Express. The best way to do this in most cases be to reset the Express back to factory default settings and then set it up again.

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Answer 8

fireman999 Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 23, 2016 6:45 AM in response to fireman999

Thats what I am trying to resolve at the moment and I think that is a setting in the TC that is not correct but I cannot see which one it is - I know that when I initially set it up some years ago it took a lot of time trying it with different settings but I had a different modem and ISP then.

Thanks

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Answer 9

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,826 points

Oct 23, 2016 6:55 AM in response to fireman999

Your post confused us, since it displayed issues with the AirPort Express.

Open up AirPort Utility again and click on the picture of the AirPort Time Capsule. Post a screenshot of that result.

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Answer 10

fireman999 Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 23, 2016 7:26 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Hi Bob,

As requested:

Do you think that the set up of the system has anything to do with it seehttp://www.metphoto.net/PDF/Setting%20up%20an%20Apple%20Time%20Capsule%20with%20 a%20BT%20Home%20Hub.pdf I currently use the first set up and it was very stable for me - just trying to think what could affect the set up.

Thanks

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Answer 11

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,826 points

Oct 23, 2016 7:40 AM in response to fireman999

Sorry, but if you will review my last post, you will see that I asked you to......

Open up AirPort Utility again and click on the picture of the AirPort Time Capsule. Post a screenshot of that result.

Could you do that for us? That will show us the current issues with the Time Capsule.

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Answer 12

fireman999 Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 23, 2016 7:45 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Sorry Bob,

I misunderstood the message - is this what you want?

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Answer 13

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,826 points

Oct 23, 2016 7:54 AM in response to fireman999

Thanks. The Time Capsule does not have an Internet connection and as such no DNS servers are being detected.

My advice would be to perform a Hard Reset the Time Capsule to erase the current network settings and then set up the Time Capsule again to see if a correct setup will result.

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Answer 14

fireman999 Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 23, 2016 8:45 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Hi Bob,

Have tried that still no luck - I am going to ditch the Apple stuff and just use the TC for back ups - will extend the BT wifi.

Thanks everyone for your help.

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Answer 15

Bob Timmons

Level 10

187,826 points

Oct 23, 2016 8:49 AM in response to fireman999

If you have tried that and the setup is still not correct, then you either have a defective Time Capsule, or you are making a mistake during the setup.

You did use Apple's setup "wizard" for the setup, correct?

To use the Time Capsule only as hard drive, the setup is still the same.....except that you will then turn off the WiFi function on the Time Capsule. Unfortunately when you do this, Time Machine backups will not be officially supported by Apple....so no help if you are having difficulties with Time Machine. But, it's your call.

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