Can old time capsule receive signal w/o extending or sending out a signal?

Question

I just purchased a new Airport Extreme to replace my old Airport Extreme w/ Time Capsule.  I was wondering if there's a way to have the old AE w/ Time Capsule still connect to my network so I can backup wirelessly without actively sending out/extending a wifi signal.
The new Airport Extreme supplies faster internet to my house and I'm afraid if I have the old Airport Extreme extending the signal it will degrade the speed I'm getting with the new router. 
Therefore, I was wondering if there's a way to just have the old machine in a hypothetical "receive only" mode. 
I know I can plug in a hard drive to the USB 2.0 into the new Airport Extreme, but I was curious if there's a way I can still use my old machine. 
Thanks!

Answer 1

Yes, what you want to do is easy.. until you hit Yosemite.
Plug the old TC WAN port into the new AE LAN port with standard ethernet patch cable.
In the airport utility locate the old TC.. you might need to do a factory reset as this is a major change of network and it is easier to start over.. none of the old backups will be deleted.
Factory reset universal
Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
Now set it up in bridge mode.. that should the the automatic setup default in this case.. and turn off wireless.
You can now access the old TC in TM on the computer.. unless it is Yosemite.. in which case you have a pile of other stuff that might be needed..
Tell us how you go.
However to make life easier in the new setup.. please stick to these rules.
Then redo the setup from the computer with Yosemite.
1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.
eg TCgen5 and TCwifi for basestation and wireless respectively.
Even better if the issue is more wireless use TC24ghz and TC5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense. But this can be tried in the second round.
2. Use all passwords that also comply but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.
3. Ensure the TC always takes the same IP address.. you will need to do this on the main router using dhcp reservation.. or a bit more complex setup using static IP in the TC. But this is important.. having IP drift all over the place when Yosemite cannot remember its own name for 5 min after a reboot makes for poor networking. If the TC is main router it will not be an issue.
4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. but this change will mess up your TM backup.. so be prepared to do a new full backup. Sorry.. keep this one for second round if you want to avoid a new backup.
5. Mount the TC disk in the computer manually.
In Finder, Go, Connect to server from the top menu,
Type in SMB://192.168.0.254 (or whatever the TC ip is which you have now made static. As a router by default it is 10.0.1.1 and I encourage people to stick with that unless you know what you are doing).
You can use name.. SMB://TCgen5.local where you replace TCgen5 with your TC name.. local is the default domain of the TC and doesn't change.
However names are not so easy as IP address.. nor as reliable. At least not in Yosemite they aren't. The domain can also be an issue if you are not plugged or wireless directly to the TC.
6. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only.