Force 802.11ac Connection To Time Capsule Rather Than Airport Express

I have a new Time Capsule and a new retina Macbook Pro, both with 802.11ac.
The Time Capsule is in my main room and my rMBP is in my offce. In between my office is the kitchen which has an Airport Express. The reason I have the Airport Express in the kitchen is because some devices such as iPads and iPhones have a hard time connecting to the Time Capsule, so the Airport Express extends the network.
The rMBP has no such problems. However, because the AE is closer, it stays connected to the AE rather than the TC. This of course means I don't get any 802.11ac advantages.
How can I force the rMBP to connect to the TC and ignore the AE?

LaPastenague had good advice for you. All that you need to do is use AirPort Utility to enable the option to assign a different name to the 5 GHz band on the Time Capsule.
Then, move your MBP close to the Time Capsule and "point" your MBP to that network. Then, check to insure that you have the MBP configured to connect to the 5 GHz network first in the connection priority list.
Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock)
Open Network
Click on WiFi on the left
Click Advanced at the lower right
Make sure that the 5 GHz network name is at the top of the connection order list. If it's not, drag it there
Make sure that there is a check mark in the box next to "Remember networks this computer has joined"
No other boxes should be checked
Click OK
Click Apply
Close the windows
Note.....As you know, 5 GHz signals are much weaker than 2.4 GHz signals, so 5 GHz works best when wireless devices are in the same room, close proximity, or have line of sight with each other. If there are several walls or other obstructions in the signal path between the Time Capsule and MBP, the Mac may not connect at high speeds.

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How do I connect my Time Capsule to my AirPort Express?

I have recently set-up a TC and would like to use my AirPort Express to play iTunes through my system. How do I connect my TC to the AE using WiFi?

Hi Sivaj,
check out the this, very easy setup:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4145
cheers
Chris

Is time capsule faster than airport express

trying to decide if i should use TC as base station or if the existing airport express is just as good. that way i can put TC in more remote (protected) location

The TC is faster.. gigabit ethernet where the express is 100mbit.
Also the wireless on the TC AC model is much faster.. although a Gen4 would probably only be slightly better than Express gen2.
However the slow ethernet port on the Express means it can never be used.
So overall the Gen4 (and Gen3) are faster than Gen2 Express..
Whether that all matters comes down to your network speed.. for instance if your max internet speed is 50/5 then express is perfectly capable of handling it.. If the internet is any download speed over 100mbit.. then the express is not capable of handling it.

Time Capsule vs. Airport Express via Ethernet

Air;ort Express is connected to a DSL modem with an Ethernet cable. Time Machine is in turn connected directly to my MacBook Pro, again by Ethernet. Obviously something here is wrong, since the Time Machine persist in showing a blinking yellow light.
I think that this used to work but no longer. How did I sdrew up?

Does that in turn suggest that I should connect the Time Capsule directly to Airport Express?
when possible always run ethernet.. it is fast and reliable.. only when there is no other choice use wireless to link routers.. it is always poor.
You can use wireless from laptop to the Express or the TC.. that is fine.. but keep the wireless usage to something close and just once.. no double hop over wireless.
If you have ethernet there, use it.
Simply put the TC in bridge mode.. that is router bridge.
And make sure you are creating a wireless network on the TC.. same name and same security setting and password as the Express.. then the laptop can connect to whichever it is nearest to.
If you need complete diagrams or screenshots just ask.
life is a lot more complicated than it was when I bought my first 128K Mac in 1984.
Not always.. networking with modems and telephone wires was not always fun.. !!
You forget what it was like 30years ago.. !!
I started about that time but could never afford Macs. When I think of all the money I spent on computer gear over the years it is frightening.
Instructions here for roaming network since Apple has none up to date.
Setting Up Roaming - New AirPort Extremes and Utility

Time Capsule with (2) AirPort Express connection problem

I have (1) Airport Time Capsule with (1) AirPort Express connected. I'm trying to connect another Airport Express but only get a yellow light on the 2nd Express. If I connect it with a ethernet cable I get a green light. How do I connect a 2nd Express?

The 2nd Express needs to be about the same distance from the Time Capsule as the 1st Express....and....it cannot be closer to the 2nd Express than it is to the Time Capsule.
The reason for this is that the Express will pick up the strongest signal and you want the Express to pick up the Time Capsule signal to be able to extend it.
Then, start over as LaPastenague instructs on the 2nd Express and configure it again.

What is the maximum distance between a time capsule and an airport express?

What is the maximum distance between a time capsule and an airport express?

You can only "extend" the signal one time, so you need to have the AirPort Express located approximately 1/2 to 2/3 of the distance from the Time Capsule to the area that needs more wireless coverage.
I doubt that this will help much since you have a very challenging setup. Wireless is really only for "same room" or "nearby rooms" around the corner.
To do this correctly you will need to use an Ethernet cable connection from the Time Capsule to the AirPort Express, which could then be located close to the xBox.
If it is not possible to run the Ethernet cable, you might look at a pair of Ethernet powerline adapters to send a "psuedo" Ethernet signal over the AC wiring in your home.
This will not be anywhere near the performance of a regular Ethernet cable, but it will likely be much better than wireless.
Since Ethernet over powerline (EOP) is somewhat unpredictable, you would want to have a very clear understanding of the store's return policy in case things don't work out as hoped. Any computer / electronics superstore will have a selection of powerline adapters to choose from.

How can I set up a wi-fi network, using one time capsule and two airport express

how can I set up a wi-fi network, using one time capsule and two airport express ?
The time capsule is near the Mac. ok
The first Airport is on the corridor, ok, works well and the App on the iPad signals so, ok
But when I plug the next Airport on another room nearby nothing happens, and signals disconected ....
is the signal so weak that is not able to go to ono room to the other ?

Well, even if you have the first express set up to extend the network, the second express can only extend from the TimeCapsule.
Maybe you got walls of sheetrook in the way, or kitchen/bathroom tiles, etc, dampening the signal rapidly.

Can I link up one time capsule with two airport express, Can I link up one time capsule with two airport express

Hi, I would like to know whether I can link up one time capsule with two airport express. The result why is that I would like to put one time capsule at first floor, two airport express at 2nd floor and 3rd floor. All these three share one network. Please advise. Thanks.

There are several ways to conenct them. We need to know what it is you want to accomplish first. Do you want better Wi-Fi coverage on the second and third floors or do you want to stream music to the xpresses?

I have a "n" time capsule and "g" airport express

Hi, I'm trying to extend the range of my Airport Time Capsule (1st generation "n"). I have a "g" Airport Express and I've been trying to set it up as a remote base station (or do I mean "relay"?) to strengthen the signal in a distant room. It's not working! Is the problem that you can't use a "g" express with an "n" Time Capsule??? Do I need to buy an "n" Express, or is there something I'm doing wrong?

I'd suggest reading the Designing Airport Networks manual. There is a section on setting up a WDS with a Time Capsule and an Airport Express.

Time Capsule green and Airport Express blinking amber

I replaced my AEBX with a Time Capsule and now the AEX configured as an extender blinks amber continuously. Bringing up AirPort Utility and following the AU help instructions to find out why the blinking amber, shows that the AEX is operating normally. In fact, the little faux LED to the left of the AEX icon shows green while the real LED is blinking amber.
The AEX was solid green before installing the TC.
Anyone else seen this? Anyone know what's going on?

I cannot get Airport Utility to see both my Time Capsule and my Airport Express at the same time. When I disconnected from the Time Capsule network it saw the AEx but repeatedly said there was a problem configuring the device. So I am stuck.

I've extended my Time Capsule wifi via Airport Express and the download speed is still super slow

I get an average of 80Mbps download speed when close to the Time Capsule. When I got upstairs in the house the download speed drastically drops. So I decided to extend the wifi range using an Airport Express. See image below. I've placed the Express router upstairs in the house and when I stand close to the Express I get a very slow download speed. About 7Mbps. Even slower than when I hadn't "extended" the range. What's going on...?

I've placed the Express router upstairs in the house and when I stand close to the Express I get a very slow download speed. About 7Mbps. Even slower than when I hadn't "extended" the range. What's going on...?
Well, the first rule that you need to remember is that when you "extend" using wireless.....you will have a drop in the potential speed on the network. So, while you might have more "range" for the network, the network speed will drop. Nothing that you can really do about that other than connect the Time Capsule and AirPort Express using a wired Ethernet connection. There will be no speed loss over the Ethernet cable, so the Express should deliver approximately the same speed as the Time Capsule.
The next rule is that when a device "extends" using wireless, it can only extend the quality and speed of the signal that it receives. A speed "boost" will not appear.
Try locating the Express about half way between the Time Capsule and the area that needs more wireless coverage. Anything that you can do to minimize obstructions between the Time Capsule and Express and on to the other area will help.....but you will never get close to the performance of connecting the AirPorts using an wired Ethernet cable.
Unfortunately, Apple really doesn't tell you very clearly, if at all, about important things like the two rules above.

Time Capsule extending to Airport Express

Hi there,
I am trying to extend my connection from Time Capsule to Airport Express, but as soon as Im setting up the airport express in Airport Utility, I then get an error message saying ' Base Station Error' ??
Not sure what i am doing wrong or what i need to do.. but i just get the flashing amber light on the express , then i reset the express and then try again to connect to time capsule.. but still error message?
can anybody help?
thanks
Lindas

May 25 22:04:58
Severity:5
Associated with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd
May 25 22:05:02
Severity:5
Deauthenticating with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd (reserved 2).
May 25 22:05:02
Severity:5
Disassociated with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd
May 25 22:05:06
Severity:5
Associated with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd
May 25 22:05:10
Severity:5
Deauthenticating with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd (reserved 2).
May 25 22:05:10
Severity:5
Disassociated with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd
May 25 22:05:13
Severity:5
Associated with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd
May 25 22:05:17
Severity:5
Deauthenticating with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd (reserved 2).
May 25 22:05:17
Severity:5
Disassociated with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd
May 25 22:10:08
Severity:5
Associated with station 00:25:00:f9:09:cd
Above is the log from Airport Utility , ive just tried to connect my airport express again to my time capsule, but still getting no joy.
ive noticed that time capsule is looking for me to update firmware, but when i click on software update - nothing appears to update the time capsule.. Ive tried to do this direct from apple downloads, but not letting me update?

Extending Network With Skh HD, Time Capsule 1TB and Airport Express

Hi,
I'm struggling to achieve what I thought to be an easy setup process.
*What I want to achieve?:*
* Ground Floor - Sky HD Router with Sky Wireless Network & Time Capsule 1 TB(choice to connect Time Capsule by either WAN Ethernet or over wi-fi?)
* First Floor - IMac and MacMini connected wirelessly, along with Airport Express to extend wireless network
* Loft - Apple TV connected to Cinema setup, with need to be able to connect to Sky HD Wireless network
Note/Problenms: It doesn't appear to be possible to extend the Sky HD Wireless Network via Time Capsule using the wireless option? Error reads "not able to extend wireless network etc...". Secondly, as a result the WiFi signal in the Loft for the Apple TV HD is 50% approx. The download speeds for movies etc is also sufficiently slow that repeat buffering is required. Not ideal.
*Current Setup:*
* Ground Floor - TC connected to Sky HD Router via WAN Ethernet cable. Creating New Network, named exactly the same as the original Sky HD Wireless Network e.g. "SKY08323"
* First Floor - IMac and MacMini connected wirelessly to SKY08323 network. Airport Express connected wirelessly to same network.
*Possible Enhancement?*
I've tried a couple of times to extend the range of the Wireless network. I First tried to do this as explained by extending the Sky HD Router network wirelessly (not possible it seems). I then connected via Wan Ethernet and setup TC and AirPort Express to interact over a WDS. TC = Main Base Station and AirPort Express = Relay Station. This seemed to setup ok but once both were restarted both TC and AE were flashing Amber and AE was no longer visible in Airport Utility.
If someone would be kind enough just to outline a step by step approach for setting up my Sky Network and being able to extend it via TC and AE, then I would be really grateful.
Many thanks and Happy New Year!
Eugene

If someone would be kind enough just to outline a step by step approach for setting up my Sky Network and being able to extend it via TC and AE, then I would be really grateful.
As you have surmised, you will NOT be able to extend the wireless range of your Sky HD Router with the Time Capsule (TC) ... at least not wirelessly.
You basically have two options: 1) Run Ethernet between the ground floor and the loft, or 2) Consider deploying Powerline adapters. These adapters take advantage of your home's electrical circuit to create a pseudo Ethernet one.
In either case, the two routers would be interconnected by Ethernet and the TC could be place in the loft. You would then reconfigure the TC as a bridge to allow the Sky router to continue to provide both the NAT & DHCP services for all network clients regardless of which router they are connected to. In addition, you would configure the TC to use the same Network Name & wireless security type so that, for example, you could roam with a wireless laptop between floors and still be on the "same" network.

Poor network speed with 1st generation time capsule and multiple airport express 5Ghz. My network speed slows to a crawl when not close to the time capsule. I get the range that I need, but the speed is painfully slow.

Hello,
I have a first generation time capsule running 802.11n (b/g compatable) and the airport expresse's are the newer 5ghz models. I have 3 airport express's and I have the range that I need. I can run the time capsule using 802.11n 5ghz, but I loose the range and can't connect to all of the airport express's. My computers and mobile devices run 802.11n. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to increase the network speed. Would the new airport extreme fix the problem?
Thank you

Unfortunately, you are experiencing one of the downsides to 5 GHz. That's because the higher frequency 5 GHz signals are much weaker than 2.4 GHz signals.
After all, you always have to give up something to gain something else. In the case of 5 GHz, you gain potential speed but in return, you must give up penetration power and distance capability.
In order to work well, 5 GHz signals need to almost have a line-of-sight relationship between devices. Unless you can achieve this, you will do much better to leave the Time Capsule running at the 802.11n (b/g compatible) 2.4 GHz Radio Mode and allow the Express devices to "extend" that network.
As for the location of the AirPort Express devices in an exended network, that is critical for best performance. That's because the Express can only "extend" the quality and bandwidth of the signal that it receives. Post back if you need a few more tips on how to find the best location for the AirPort Express devices.
Would the new airport extreme fix the problem?
Unfortunately, no.

Unusual Senario: Use Time Capsule to extend Airport Express network

I have an less common senaria here. I'd like to keep the TC on my desk and hide away the ugly cable modem. This is what I want to accomplish:
- Connect my airport express (802.11n model) to the cable modem and use it as the base station, in b/g/n mode.
- Wirelessly extend the above network to my TC.
- The TC will only be connected via ethernet and N equipped computer, so I want to run it in N (5GHz) only mode.
After some research, it seems to be not feasible, can anybody please confirm? Thanks for help.

If you are asking about extending using wireless only......Yes, if your existing network is being created by another Apple wireless router.
In this case, the Time Capsule would need to be located where it can receive a strong wireless signal in order to extend it correctly.

Force 802.11ac Connection To Time Capsule Rather Than Airport Express

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