Time Capsule working with Eircom ASDL router

MBIreland

I have purchased the 1TB Time Capsule from Apple. When I purchased the product, the Apple salesman told me that I would be able to connect the device in the following manner:

TC would connect wirelessly to the Eircom wireless router, the printer in the other room would then connect to the TC via USB thereby giving me remote access to my printer.

I have not managed to set this up yet, so phoned Apple support, they told me that they cannot set it up unless I purchase the Airport Express to replace the router I already have.

Could anybody tell me if the setup I have described will work, or do I need to go back to the Apple shop and get a refund?

Any help gratefully appreciated.

mobius42

That seems a strange way to set it up. I think what would be easier would be to connect the eircom router to the TC via an ethernet cable and turn off the eircom router's wireless. Then you could connect your printer to the TC and share it on the network.

There's a WAN port on the back of the TC for connecting routers. I think if you plug the eircom router into that it should provide it with an internet connection and then you can use the TC to provide your wireless network. Trying to bridge the 2 routers wirelessly would be messy, if it can even be done at all.

MBIreland

Thanks for the reply, I guess I didn't explain fully what I was looking to achieve.

The printer is in a different room to the wireless router so in order to gain wireless access to the printer I would need the TC to be in the same room. If the TC needs to be connected to the router by Ethernet, surely it would be cheaper to buy a normal hard drive and wireless printer?

I'm not sure why the apple sales assistant told me that this set up would work if it couldn't and was very surprised that it wasn't an easy to thing to do judging on my experience with other apple products.

Thanks again!

bnt

Hang on a minute ...doesn't the Time Capsule have its own wireless base station built in? Can't you just power it up and backup that way, without any connection to the Eircom router? You'd just need to switch wireless network on the laptop when you want to do a backup or print. A pain, but not a serious one.

Or, if you want to link it to your Eircom router, how do you tell it about the Eircom wireless settings? It might connect to an AirPort router automatically, but not Eircom, so you have to tell it what to do. Here's what I would try:
- connect the TC's WAN port to the Eircom router with a cable to start with; power it up, use the AirPort utility to find it. Check it works etc.
- while connected, go in and configure the wireless settings you need to connect to the Eircom router and test them. I think this is what's being described on page 21 of the manual, under "Advanced Options".

If this was mine, I would seriously consider keeping the TC cabled to the router: I expect backup would be a lot faster, since you'd be using half the wireless bandwidth. I suppose the question then is whether you can have the printer there too. If I have a choice between wired or wireless, I always choose wired.

MBIreland

Thanks for the reply there,

I have tried to connect the TC to my wireless network using the network using the network key that I have set up.

The set up procedure in the airport utility starts working for this way of setting up the TC, however after I send the TC the settings, it then disappears leaving the TC completely useless. When I spoke to the apple helpdesk they told me that I would need airport express in order to make this happen, which sounds very much like profiteering on their behalf.

I only bought the TC because of this setup which I was told would work, so if it is not the case, I will be heading back to apple and getting a refund.

I am now thinking that the apple salesman was only interested in his commission rather than ensuring that the product was right for the purpose intended.

Very disappointed, but hoping that this can be fixed?

Frank Grimes Jr

It may be misunderstood by apple support that you are using the timecapsule's router to manage the network. In which case adding an Airport Express unit to connect it to the remote printer would be the cleanest way to add the printer.

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=12656118

Here is how to connect the Time Capsule to effectively extend your current wireless network

Connect the ethernet cable from the switch to the WAN (circle icon) port on the Time Capsule. Open AirPort Utility - click Manual Setup. Look for the AirPort ID and jot that down.

Click the Time Capsule tab below the row of icons

Time Capsule Name = Your choice
Time Capsule Password = Your choice. (Write this down)
Enter a check mark next to Set Time Automatically
Time Zone = Adjust as needed

Click the Wireless tab next to the Time Capsule tab

Wireless Mode = Create a wireless network
Wireless Network Name = Exact name of your D-Link wireless network
Radio Mode = Autommatic
Channel = Automatic
Wireless Security = Try WPA/WPA2 Personal first. Your WPA2 - PSK setting can be either AES or TKIP, so it's a guess. If WPA/WPA2 Personal does not work, try WPA2 Personal.
Wireless Password = Exact same password as your D-Link network
Confirm Password

Click the Internet icon

Connect Using = Ethernet
Connection Sharing = Off (Bridge Mode)

Update at lower right to save settings and the TC will restart in about 30 seconds. If you have the right security setting, you'll be able to move your laptop near the TC and connect to the TC wireless.

To confirm, hold down the option key on your Mac as you click on the fan shaped Airport icon at the top of the computer screen. Look for the BSSID. That should match the AirPort ID that you wrote down previously.

If it does not, change the security setting on the TC and test again.