Help wirelessly connecting Time Capsule to AEBS

Question

Hello All,
Here's the situation I'm facing:
I just bought a Time Capsule which I've hooked up to my cable modem/internet connection. I still have my old Airport Extreme, and would like to continue using that in another room (wirelessly). I do not care to increase the signal coverage of my wireless network, but only want to use the additional LAN ports on my AE. Basically, I'd like to use the LAN ports to connect my DVR (on-demand programming) and X360 to the internet. Neither device has a wireless card, so extending my network doesn't do anything for me.
Now, I've tried two different avenues to accomplish this. First, I set up a WDS network with the TC being the main, and the AE being the remote. While i was successful in setting this up, the network's speed came to a screeching halt. Average web pages would take almost a minute to load. Not satisfied with that, I tried setting my TC as a new wireless network, and my AE as an extended network. This too worked, and with greater speed, but i found some computers in my house insisted on connecting to the AE, which being somewhat far from the TC, didnt have the perfect connection.
So that leaves me here. Basically, what I'm hoping to do is the following. Have the TC connected to my cable modem with ALL wireless devices in the house connected to it. Then, have the AE wirelessly connected to the TC, and only have wired devices connected to the AE. I do not want the AE to accept ANY wireless connections. Is this possible? Can the AE reject all incoming wireless connections, while sending out its own to the TC? Any help would be appreciated. If you can describe the settings I'll need to use (WDS, Extend, etc. etc.), I'll be very grateful. Thanks so much!

Answer 1

Another option that would require the investment of 100$ would be to get an Airport Express AX), hardwire that to your Time Capsule (TC), and then use Airport Utility to create a separate wireless network with your AX that your Airport Extreme (AE) could then join from wherever you want to put it in your house. By doing this, you get optimal network speeds from both the TC wireless network AND the AX/AE network. Now, if you want to connect ALL your wireless devices to the TC, you simply set them up to join only the TC network; you don't allow ANYTHING to join the AX/AE network by securing it with a password and/or creating a closed network that devices wouldn't readily "see". This option is especially good for your if all your devices are 802.11n, but even if they're not, I think you'll find it gives you the most flexibility. Good luck.