I need help to setup my two Airport Time Capsules on different floors by ethernet through network switches

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I need help to setup my two Airport Time Capsules on different floors by ethernet through network switches

I would be grateful for advice as to setting up my network to get maximum benefit.

My house has ethernet wired from my office where the Service Provider’s modem is located to my upstairs entertainment system and another to my downstairs entertainment system.

My office, upstairs and downstairs each have an unmanaged network ethernet switch supporting them. I currently connect directly from my modem to both of the ethernet connections upstairs and downstairs and then to the network ethernet switches at each location.

Upstairs and downstairs both have an Apple Airport Time Capsule to provide a wireless network and for Time Machine functionality to computers on both floors. I have had no need to utilise the LAN ports on either Time Capsules at this stage. The upstairs Airport Time Capsule is connected from the Ethernet Switch to its WAN Port.

My network works reasonably well, but most efficiently in my office and upstairs. The Apple Airport upstairs is wired and provides a strong wireless signal in that floor of the house.

Wi-Fi downstairs is provided through the Apple Airport as an extension of my upstairs Wi-Fi network but is much slower. Other Equipment attached to the unmanaged ethernet switch works fine because it is all working by direct ethernet connection from my office modem.

My downstairs Apple Airport works reasonably in Wi-Fi mode, albeit much slower but fails when I connect it to the adjacent ethernet switch. There is clearly a conflict in my setup when connected by ethernet.

Given this setup, can you advise how to best connect the two Apple Airport time capsules to maximum effect.

Posted on Nov 29, 2018 3:04 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 29, 2018 5:48 PM in response to russell l

My downstairs Apple Airport works reasonably in Wi-Fi mode, albeit much slower but fails when I connect it to the adjacent ethernet switch. There is clearly a conflict in my setup when connected by ethernet.

This sounds like the downstairs AirPort (Time Capsule?) was originally configured to "Extend a wireless network". That being the case, the downstairs AirPort is expecting a wireless connection from the main AirPort.

If you then connect an Ethernet cable to the AirPort's WAN port, the AirPort now "sees" two different connections......wireless and wired......and this results in a huge feedback loop that effectively crashes the downstairs network.

If you think that this might be the case with your setup, the solution is to start over with a Hard Reset on the downstairs AirPort, establish the Ethernet connection first, then configure the AirPort to "Extend using Ethernet" using Apple's setup "wizard" to automatically apply the correct settings to the downstairs AirPort.

In the example below, you can see that an AirPort Express is being set up to extend using Ethernet. Your setup screen will display two AirPort Time Capsules.

Post back if you need more tips on the setup. We will assume that you are using a Mac for the setup, correct?

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Answer 2

russell l Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 29, 2018 9:08 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Thank you. That explains what is happening. It now appears to be working OK. I haven't yet reset again as you suggested. The wi-fi speed downstairs has increased significantly. When I did do a hard reset earlier, I didn't change the Wi-Fi network description so it was showing up as Apple Network idd8e8 reflecting the Airport Identification in the Airport Utility. I renamed that to my existing Wi-Fi network and use the same passwords but I noticed that initially the speed was very slow, probably looking at my upstairs Wi-Fi Network. I refreshed it as my Network downstairs and immediately the higher speed appeared. Is this a thing with roaming networks. Not that it is a drama. Your explanation was great and I now know how this works. Again, I appreciate your patience and time explaining it. Best regards, Leigh

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Answer 3

Nov 29, 2018 3:22 PM in response to russell l

Assuming you're not using either device as your ISP firewall, and further assuming you're using your ISP firewall for DHCP, I'd connect both to the wired network, configure both as access points ("bridged"), configure the same SSID on both, and configure each on non-overlapping channels.

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Answer 4

russell l Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 29, 2018 8:06 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks Bob. I suspect you were right on the money with the conflicting Airport configurations. I am using a Mac. I hard reset the downstairs Airport, set it up in AirPort Utility and it seemed OK for a few minutes before changing its connection from solid line to dotted. I then lost internet access. I have done it again and it now appears stable. If I can take a few more minutes of your time, I will give you the information I can read off the Airport Utility and perhaps you could confirm that all appears well.

I have connection to the internet and now have solid lines from the Internet to "Upstairs Airport Capsule #1" and to "Downstairs Airport Capsule #2". Both carry the same Network Name.

Problem: As I was checking the Airport Utility configuration for Downstairs Airport, I note that the Wireless tab in the utility was showing Network Mode to be "Create a Wireless Network". I changed that to "Extend a Wireless Network" and the same problems started to appear....ie. loss of internet connection. .... dotted line appearing in the graphical representation of the link between Internet and Downstairs Airport. As I write this, Internet is disconnected and both Airports have a "Device Not Found" message appearing.

Again, I have obviously done something wrong. I changed the setting of downstairs Airport back to Create a Wireless network and the internet comes back on, I have a solid line from Internet to Upstairs Airport and a dotted on from Internet to Downstairs Airport. Shouldn't these be solid lines when I am in the utility looking at Ethernet connections? Both Airports are in Bridge Mode.

Can you spot the obvious problem that I can't see. Appreciate having someone who know what they are doing help out here Bob.

Regards,

Leigh

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Answer 5

Nov 29, 2018 8:28 PM in response to russell l

Problem: As I was checking the Airport Utility configuration for Downstairs Airport, I note that the Wireless tab in the utility was showing Network Mode to be "Create a Wireless Network".

This is correct. The setup wizard calls this Extend using Ethernet. Your only other choice is "Extend a wireless network".....and you know that is wrong because that is only used when the AirPorts connect using wireless.....and you want to connect using Ethernet.

Another way to say the same thing.....whenever the AirPorts connect to a network using Ethernet, they must be setup to "Create a wireless network". The setup wizard chooses this for you automatically during the Extend using Ethernet setup.

"Extend a wireless network" is used only when the AirPorts connect using wireless.

Again, I have obviously done something wrong. I changed the setting of downstairs Airport back to Create a Wireless network and the internet comes back on, I have a solid line from Internet to Upstairs Airport and a dotted on from Internet to Downstairs Airport. Shouldn't these be solid lines when I am in the utility looking at Ethernet connections? Both Airports are in Bridge Mode.

Unfortunately, you have messed things up by changing settings without starting over.

Start over again with a Hard Reset and setup the AirPort again using the setup wizard to "Extend using Ethernet", which is the same thing as "Create a wireless network".

Technically, you now have what is known as a "roaming" network. That is setup where all the AirPorts connect to the network using Ethernet and all the AirPorts are set up the same to provide a wireless network that uses the same name and password.

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Answer 6

russell l Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 29, 2018 9:08 PM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you for taking the time to answer. It appears that your suggestion is as Bob Timmons has explained and I am now up and running properly. Your response is greatly appreciated. Best regards,

Leigh

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I need help to setup my two Airport Time Capsules on different floors by ethernet through network switches

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