How do I set ip airport extreme and time capsule together?

I had it plugged into outlet only.

Sorry, I am not sure what you mean by this. If you could provide more details, that would be helpful.

My recommendation would be for you to connect the Time Capsule to the AirPort Extreme using a permanent, wired Ethernet cable connection. This will provide the fastest and most reliable performance.

I asked where the Time Capsule will be located in relationship to the AirPort Extreme to learn whether or not there might be WiFi interference issues between the two devices. In other words, you would not want to locate the Time Capsule close to the AirPort Extreme.....unless....you turn off the WiFi function on the Time Capsule and use it only as a backup drive.

If the Time Capsule will be located a room or two away from the AirPort Extreme, then it can be setup to "extend" the WiFi and provide a stronger signal in the area where it will be located.

Will it work wirelessly? Would rather do that

Yes it will, if the Time Capsule is located in an area where it can receive a good WiFi signal from the AirPort Extreme. In that case, the Time Capsule will also "extend" the network and provide additional WiFi coverage in the area where it is located.

The downside to using wireless to connect the Time Capsule to the AirPort Extreme is that you will lose at least half of the potential WiFi speed over your entire network. And, as you know, a WiFi connection is not as stable or reliable as a wired connection, so my recommendation would be to use a wired Ethernet cable connection between the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule if possible.

But, a wireless connection between the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule might work OK for you if you want to try that type of setup.

It's your call. Let us know how you want to proceed and we'll provide the instructions to do so.

We need more information in order to be able to provide the correct setup instructions. If you could please answer the following questions, we can likely help.

1) Is the Time Capsule new, with factory default settings?

2) If no, how was the Time Capsule used previously?

3) Will the Time Capsule connect to the AirPort Extreme using a permanent, wired Ethernet cable connection?

4) If yes, where will the Time Capsule be located in relationship to the AirPort Extreme?

5) Will the Time Capsule connect to the AirPort Extreme using a wireless connection?

6) If yes, where will the Time Capsule be located in relationship to the Airport Extreme?

7) What device.....a Mac, iPhone / iPad, or PC, etc.....will you be using to set up the Time Capsule?

8) If you will be using a Mac, what operating system is installed on the Mac? High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, etc?

Finally, if the Time Capsule is new, you do have 90 days of free phone support from Apple, if you would prefer to have an Apple support person assist you.

Wait for the backup to finish.

Click the Time Machine "clock" icon at the top of the Mac's screen

Click Open Time Machine Preferences

A window will open with information about the date and time when the last backup was completed

If you want to view the Time Machine backups......

Click the Time Machine "clock" icon at the top of the Mac's screen

Click Enter Time Machine

The scale on the right side of the screen indicates the dates and times of backups

Select a backup to view how your Mac looked on that date and time

For more information about Time Machine, please see this Apple Support document:

How to use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

I was told it would work wirelessly.

It will. The Time Capsule might be set up correctly now, but you might really be having a problem with setting up Time Machine correctly to backup the data on your Mac.

I'm not sure on whether you want to try to troubleshoot the existing setup, or go with the new wired setup that you see further below.

I looked like it was set up but there were no backups.

That is a different issue, which can occur no matter how the Time Capsule connects to the AirPort Extreme. So, simply setting up the Time Capsule to connect using a wired Ethernet cable connection will be no guarantee that backups will suddenly start working as a result. More work may be needed to get backups going.

But, I didnt know Id lose so much speed

Unfortunately, this is a nature of the beast when you try to use a WiFi connection to extend a network. That is why we always recommend a wired Ethernet cable connection whenever possible.

please tell me how to hook up time capsule up by Ethernet to the airport.

Step by step instructions are are provided below to do this.

However, please understand that even if you have things set up correctly, there may be more troubleshooting involved if you are having backup problems with the Time Capsule. In other words, the real issue might not really be in how the Time Capsule connects to the AirPort Extreme, the real issue may be something else.

If you want to proceed with the wired connection setup, please follow the instructions carefully.

• Power off the Time Capsule and move it to the area where the AirPort Extreme is located.
• Connect an Ethernet cable from one of the three LAN <--> Ethernet ports on the back of the AirPort Extreme to the WAN "O" port on the Time Capsule
• Power up the Time Capsule and let it run for a minute or two
• Hold in the reset button on the back of the Time Capsule (next to the AC power port) for 7-8 seconds, then release and allow a full minute for the Time Capsule to restart to a slow, blinking amber light status. A red box outlines the reset button in the illustration below

• On your Mac.....click on the WiFi menu icon at the the top of the screen and look for a listing of New AirPort Base Station
• Just below that listing, click directly on AirPort Time Capsule

When you click on AirPort Time Capsule, that will open up the AirPort Utility setup "wizard" window automatically.

The wizard will take a few seconds to analyze the connection and then suggest the correct setup for the Time Capsule. You will see a window that looks like the illustration below, except that you will see the Time Capsule pictured and the name of your wireless network

• Type in a device name that you want to call the Time Capsule. You can use the same name that you used before, or a different name if you wish
• Click Next

Watch the next screen very carefully to see that the Time Capsule is being set up to extend using Ethernet. This will confirm that the setup wizard has picked up the wired Ethernet cable connection and the correct settings will be applied to the Time Capsule

When you see the message of Setup Complete, click Done

More adjustments to the Time Capsule settings will now be needed, but before we do that, please post back to confirm on your progress so far

If AirPort Utility is not already open on your Mac, open it up (Finder > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility)

Click on the picture of the Time Capsule, then click Edit in the smaller window that appears.

A window will open with headings for the different categories of settings on the Time Capsule, like this:

Click on the Wireless tab, then change the setting for Network Mode to Off, like this:

Then click Update at the lower right of the window and allow a minute for the Time Capsule to restart.

The Time Capsule is now set up correctly to work with the AirPort Extreme.

Try to run a backup.....(I assume that you are using Time Machine and have set it up)......and report on your results. If you see any error messages, please post back the exact message.

Power off both the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule.

Restart your Mac

Power up the AirPort Extreme and let it run a full minute

Power up the Time Capsule and let it run a full minute

Try again

Click the Finder icon on the dock on your Mac

Open the Applications folder

Open the Utilities folder

Open Airport Utility

Finder>Applications>Utilities>Airport Utility