Time Capsule DHCP

Hi!
Please excuse my ignorance ahead of time. My buddy wants to set up a (mostly CAT 5 wired) home network. His Time Capsule is upstairs on the main floor, but his switch for his CAT 5 cabling is downstairs in the basement (PC, TIVO, ets will all be plugged into it). He wants to continue to use his Time Capsule as his wireless router.
So that beign said, can we hook up his DSL into his Time Capsule upstairs, then run CAT 5 downstairs to his switch and attach the rest of his LAN into that switch?
Will the Time Capsule then act as both his wireless and wired router?
How many IP Addresses will it hand out?
Thanks ahead of time!
Peace
Roger

Hello rdw5150. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
So that beign said, can we hook up his DSL into his Time Capsule upstairs, then run CAT 5 downstairs to his switch and attach the rest of his LAN into that switch?
Yes.
Will the Time Capsule then act as both his wireless and wired router?
Yes.
How many IP Addresses will it hand out?
The default DHCP IP address range is from 10.0.1.2 - 10.0.1.200, but you could extend this to 10.0.1.254.

Similar Messages

Time Capsule DHCP settings

My BT Home Hub 2 started playing up so I replaced it with a Draytek Vigor 120. I have managed (somehow) to get it to work and have internet access despite the Vigor saying that I don't.
The Time Capsule DHCP is assigning IP addresses of 10.0.#.# instead of 192.168.#.# - any ideas how to change this format?
Thanks.

A consumer device with an LED labeled as an essential funtion but is actually redundant? This is why Apple should do their own ADSL modem...
It is not redundant.. The internet LED will light when the draytek is used as router.. it then handles the routing.. but the UK version has removed that option.. this is correct because the internet is not controlled then by the modem.. only dsl sync. The router that does authentication, actually is the internet device..
Apple have never made anything beyond dial up modems and they will never make adsl modems.. which are going to eventually be phased out hopefully as we go to fibre or vdsl.
A bridged modem is not generally accessible from a router.. the WAN port of the router is pppoe encapsulated not normal IP addressing.

Time Capsule DHCP (with Netgear DGN3500)

Hi
I have tried, inconsistently for months, to figure out the best setup for my home network.
1. I'll try to describe what I have at the moment:
i. A Netgear DGN3500 which acts as a modem (connects to adsl phone socket in wall), and a wire/less router. The netgear broadcasts a wireless network (SSID: "712 2.4GHz") and is also connected to my Time Capsule via ethernet cable. The netgear acts as a DHCP server, providing address from 192.168.3.3 - 192.168.3.9. The netgear has a static lan ip address of 192.168.3.1.
ii. My Time Capsule (connected to the internet via netgear modem via ethernet) is currently in "DHCP only" mode. The TC has a static IP address of 192.168.3.2 and provides via DHCP a range of addresses from 192.168.3.10 - 192.168.3.200. The TC also broacasts 2 wireless networks, one in 2.4GHz mode (SSID: "712 2.4GHz") and another in 5GHz mode (SSID: "712 5GHz"). Radio mode and channels are all set to "Automatic".
2. Ok. Let me explain what I've tried to achieve here.
I want to roam around my home without having to worry about wireless signal or ip addresses etc. So the idea is that I can be in my bedroom (closest to the netgear) and surf the web on my iphone/macbook pro using an ip address provided by the netgear's DHCP server, then walk into my living room (closer to the TC) and swicth to an IP address provided by the TC's DHCP server and continue surfing the web on my iphone/macbook pro without losing signal strength.
3. My problem is this:
When swicthing between routers/wlans/ip adrresses/etc. from my living room to my bedroom (ie. when swicthing between the TC and the netgear), the process is almost seamless. However, when I switch the other way around, from the netgear near my bedroom to the TC in my living room, it takes more than a few minutes for the correct IP address to be served to the iphone/macbook pro and I find that I can't connect to the internet (except via 3G on my iphone) until it sorts itself out, after clicking the "Renew DHCP lease" a hundred times, or disabling and enabling wireless on my iphone/macbook pro a hundred times. It's baffling to me why it works (quickly) in one direction but not the other.
4. What I have done, that also didn't work:
Most forum posts have suggested that the TC should simply be left in "bridge mode". I did this too. It worked (or rather didn't) in exactly the same way as I described above. The only difference, unless I'm mistaken, was that the netgear was the exclusive DHCP sever and provided the full range of IP addresses. It did indeed do this via the TC (via ethernet) as well, but also just as slowly.
Help.

I agree with Bob.. the problem is the TC is setup not in bridge not in router.. it is in fairy land.. it has to be bridge or router to work properly.. otherwise the Netgear as the primary router has no idea what IP address the device is that wirelessly connects to the TC.. and the TC cannot route the connection correctly because it isn't a router. (watch the arp table if available in the netgear or list of clients and in the TC from a computer open the advanced, log, wireless clients, in a computer, then as you roam you will see where the iphone is showing up.)
A few points.. again what Bob says about sticking with Apple products is probably true.. Apple wireless provides some details PC world doesn't.. eg country. It is also roaming which will never work as well in mixed product environment.
Are there spaces in the SSID? That is again a no no in the PC world. Even if you don't use PC's the Netgear is not designed primarily for Macs.
I would set SSID, and all the names of devices.. short.. straight alphanumeric.. no spaces.
I would also lock channels on at least one device.. two routers set to auto channel leads to chaos.. but I would lock both.. for 2.4ghz there are only three non-overlapping channels, 1, 6 and 11.
Use as much space as possible.. so 1 on the netgear and 11 on the TC.
Solution might also be to buy a Airport Extreme or Express and plug it into the netgear and turn off its wireless. Stick with Apple on Apple.. it does work better.

Time Capsule, DHCP not providing correct gateway address

I have gone back and forth between my AP Extreme and Time Capsule and have determined that Time Capsule is not providing the proper gateway address to my wireless clients. Instead of providing the correct gw address it provides the address I assigned the base station. This is contrary to my Airport Extreme which provides the proper gw address to my wireless clients. Sounds like a bug in the DHCP base station software. Any thoughts?

I have a very similar problem. I originally had cable broadband and a Airport Extreme (AE) upgraded to 7.3.1 all worked fine. The AE was being used as a DHCP server to distribute the dynamic IP address provided by the ISP. I then replaced the AE for a Time Capsule (TC) and installed a new 802.11n Airport Express. I upgraded the TC and AExpress to 7.3.1. The TC was setup identically to the now replaced (disconnected and switched off) AE.
Unfortunately the TC failed to work as a DHCP server. It did not recognize the ISP provided dynamic IP address and replaced it with an 'Invalid' IP address which of course meant no internet access. I then replaced the TC with the original AE (identically set up) and all worked fine, including the AExpress.
While I wait for Apple to fix the TC firmware I am running the AE as the DHCP Server and the TC as a wireless bridge to the AExpress. Time Machine is recognizing Time Capsule and backups from two macs are working fine.

Restart every day time capsule (DHCP)

My time capsule worked pefect until a few days ago. From now on I have to restart almost every day my "time Capsule". Because it lost the connection with my provider.
After the restart it works again perfectly for about 24:00 hr.
I thought it could be due to the IP. I have a DHCP connection. But the IP of the provider changes only every 06 months and on my capsule i still have the correct IP.
Aditional information I upgraded the firmware also a few day ago.
Is there some one who have the same problem?

My time capsule worked pefect until a few days ago. From now on I have to restart almost every day my "time Capsule". Because it lost the connection with my provider.
After the restart it works again perfectly for about 24:00 hr.
I thought it could be due to the IP. I have a DHCP connection. But the IP of the provider changes only every 06 months and on my capsule i still have the correct IP.
Aditional information I upgraded the firmware also a few day ago.
Is there some one who have the same problem?

Time Capsule DHCP & VoIP Phones

Hi,
We have just received our Time Capsule yesterday. It is responsible for providing an Internet connection with DHCP to all our computers and VoIP phones in the office.
Before the time capsule, we have been running a the same setup with an Airport Express for many months without any problems. Now, some of the phones stop receiving incoming calls 1-5 minutes after being booted. A reboot will fix the problem for 1-5 more minutes and then incoming calls cannot be received anymore again.
I saw on this forum that the TC may be assigning the same IP address for more than one device. Could it be the problem? We have reverted to the Airport Express for now and we will have to return the TC if it doesn't accommodate the phones.
Can anyone help? I would also like to be able to see the list of DHCP leases on the TC to be able to troubleshoot this. Thanks.

let me know when you resolve this , I just decided to run my voips using my netgearGS 108 switch connected to my modem and then to time capusule from GS 108 lan port to Wan port of TC , my packet 8 phone and fax just work fine with this set up but took me over two days to figure it out I did not want to play around with port forwarding since I am not a techie. My TC is now set on wireless and I have shut of the wireless on my .2. wire 3800 HGV modem for money i think a TC is worth it

My Working Solution: 1 Time Capsule + 2 AEBs on One Network

Over the past two weeks, I have probably spent 10+ hours messing around with one Time Capsule and 2 AEBs in an attempt to create a single roaming network. I tried everything and I searched for hours on the forums for solutions. Thanks to many others for posting tid bits here and there, I was at least able to try things I hadn't tried before. In the end, I never found a perfect answer and I even spent time on the phone with Apple. Finally, after coming close to throwing every one of these devices at the wall, I took at step back and waited a few days and came up with a solution that works perfectly for me - as of today, it's been three days without any glitch. Keep in mind though that I have the luxury of having a wired house and I have the option of running ethernet cable from one device to the other as my mechanism for "extending" the network. What I needed was the ability to walk around the house freely with wireless devices such as our iPhone, MacBook Air and my work laptop...
What I don't know is whether or not the approach I took has performance issues or if it's supported by Apple or if I am in for a sudden surprise so take my solution for what it's worth... Here is what I did...
*General Advice for Clearing out AEB/TC Settings*
- Power device on - wait till it goes through a solid and then a slow blinking amber light
- Once the device has powered up, do a hard reset (new models - push reset for 5 seconds until it blinks rapidly
- Wait until the full power up cycle completes - slow blinking amber light
- Unplug the device, wait a few seconds and plug back in, waiting until full cycle
I can not stress how important above is - just doing a hard reset will NOT clear out all your settings and you will be left with random crap that could impact your setup. This was one of the key pieces I was missing and a great apple tech helped me out
Also - start simple... no printer hookup, no extra network devices, just one computer, one TC/AEB and the internet. Add on from there. Based on this, I setup things as follows
1. Time Capsule - verified internet, etc
2. AEB #1 - again verified internet, etc.
3. AEB #2
Finally, the latest TC/AEB updates provided by Apple did appear to help - not sure exactly how but the process of setting up my 2nd AEB was easier and I ran into many less issues...
*Internet Solution:*
- Comcast Cable Modem
- Hooked up directly to the WAN port of my Time Capsule
- DHCP based solution, per Comcast setup
*Time Capsule*
- Version 7.3.1
- Acts as my main Hub, DNS Server and Router
- Name: used three words all separated with - (no spaces). Ex: my-time-capsule
- Wireless Mode
-- Create a wireless Network
-- Network Name: Z-Autobahn
-- Yes to Allow network to be extended
-- 802.11n only (5 GHZ)
-- Security WPA2 Personal
-- Under Options: Changed Multicast to 24Mbps
- Internet
-- Used Ethernet, DHCP as Comcast requires
-- Connection Sharing: Share a public IP Address
- DHCP
-- Leveraged default network / submasks 10.0.1.1 as my router, dishing out 10.0.1.2 and beyond
-- Reser*ved two DHCP reservations - one for each AEB 10.0.1.2 and 10.0.1.1
*AEB #1*
Here is the key difference - I did NOT use WDS or the Extend Network option. I had problem after problem with these options and although I can not confirm, I believe both of these leverage wireless to extend your range vs. ethernet. I also believe this is the reason folks say to NOT use the WAN port with this type of configuration
Base Station
- Named similar to TC: my-aeb-mb (where mb was a location identifier)
- WAN port is hooked up directly to one of the LAN ports of my Time Capsule
- Wireless Mode
-- Create a wireless Network (NOT WDS or Extend)
-- Network Name: Z-Autobahn (same as TC settings)
-- Yes to Allow network to be extended
-- 802.11n only (5 GHZ)
-- Security WPA2 Personal (exact same security setup and password)
-- Under Options: Changed Multicast to 24Mbps
- Internet
-- Used Ethernet and Manually
-- IP Address: 10.0.1.2 (matches what I reserved from the DHCP settings of time capsule)
-- Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 (vs. default 255.255.0.0)
-- DNS Server 10.0.1.1
-- Connection Sharing: off (Bridge Mode)
*AEB #2*
I followed the exact same process as AEB #1 with the exception of the following 2 settings
- Name: my-aeb-lr
- IP Address: 10.0.1.3 (matches what I reserved from DHCP settings of time capsule)
*Other Random Thoughts*
Prior to setting up above, I experienced a ton of issues - network would drop, an AEB would disappear, random instability, you name it. Above setup has worked well for a few days now.
I also have a bit of a more complex setup - there is actually a full switch running in between the TC and the AEBs but this should be irrelevant. I just happen to have a full wired house. I am sure someone will ask my the **** I even borrowed with above - the answer is simple. Ports are great when you know exactly where your computer or network device is going to be BEFORE your house is built.
All my machines (with the exception of my work laptop) are setup with a WINS workgroup called "workgroup" so that I can share between my macs and my pcs. You don't need to mess with this if you are all mac.
*Quick Note on Windows XP*
By default, Windows XP does NOT support WPA2 which means you can't use a true 802.11n solution at 5ghz. You can download a hot fix for SP2 from Microsoft. The KB article is: 893357 and can be downloaded from here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893357. This is NOT an issue with Windows Vista.
Finally - I am not a network expert but I work in the SW industry. I would love to get thoughts from someone that is really experienced in networking to help me understand if I did something that is screwed up. Things seem to work for me.

I realized I only used the abbreviation AEB vs. Airport Extreme. Caught this after the 15 minute edit restriction. Added in case folks are searching by Airport Extreme. In addition, the solution I setup is a Roaming Network solution vs. "one network". Enjoy!

How do I configure my time capsule to DHCP mode? I had to replace my DSL router, had a network set up before.

I recently had to replace my DSL router. My provider, Earthlink, walked me through the setup and I do have internet access if I connect directly to my Mac. When I tried to use my time capsule, it would not work. The Earthlink tech said I needed to reconfigure my time capsule to DHCP mode. I tried the set up manual and could not make sense of it. My 90 free service is long gone.

and the text in the router mode box came up DHCP and NAT, but the lettering was in a lighter shade than elsewhere and I could not open the drop down box.
You would have had to change some other settings on the AirPort to be able make changes in the drop down Router Mode box.
Your AirPort is already configured as Earthlink suggests.
Try powering off the entire network...all devices....in any order you want
Wait a few minutes
Start the Earthlink modem first and let it run 2-3 minutes by itself
Start the Time Capsule and let it run a full minute
Keep starting other devices the same way until everything is powered back up
Check the network
If still no improvement, I think you need to let Earthlink know that you have done as they asked, and ask for more steps to try.
Hopefully, another Earthlink user will see this post and offer any special information or tips that only they would know.

Can I use Time Capsule to share a public ip within a network with DHCP enabled?

Hi I have a router with 8 public ip's which is doing DHCP for the public ip's I own. What I am trying to do is to give a static public IP to my Time Capsule and then the time capsule should create another network (both wired and wireless) with private IP (eg. 192.168.1.xxx) and do DHCP to the connected to time capsule devices.
I tried to select the option SHARE A PUBLIC IP but it is not working.
Any help?
Armandos

I am assuming that the static IP address that you are attempting to assign the WAN-side of the Time Capsule is one of the eight Public IP addresses available to you ... correct?
If so, then you should be able to configure the TC's WAN port for either: 1) Use the "Using DHCP" option to grab one of these Public IP addresses from the upstream router's DHCP server, or 2) Use the "Manually" option, and then, enter the appropriate IP addresses in their appropriate fields.
With the Connection Sharing = Share a public IP address selected, the TC's NAT & DHCP services will be enabled and they should be able to provide a Private LAN behind it.
Are either or neither the TC's WAN or LAN sides working properly?

Time Capsule - Can it run as DHCP router, create a wireless network and plug into switch for wired network all at the same time?

I have a closet with Wired connections from all over the house terminating in it. I also have the internet modem and a switch in this closet. My old setup was a netgear in the closet creating a wireless network and also feeding the Ethernet ports all over the house. In my room, I had an Airport express (a month old) bridging the wifi to make the wifi network larger. The Express was hard wired from the wall and my mac mini was using it's wifi (printer was plugged into other ethernet port). Everything was working great.
Fast forward to last week. My Netgear died. So, I bought a time capsule. My plan was to move the Express to the closet and have it create the wifi network and also then run cat 5 cord from express to the switch to feed all the wired wall plugs. Reset it and set it up to create the wifi network as well as DCHP NAT. Wireless was running great on it. Then I plugged in the Cat 5 in the second Ethernet Port to the switch. Wifi stopped working and none of the computers would connect using wired connections either. They would see a 'network' but nothing would work. I would unplug the Cat 5 feeding the swtich and the wireless would start working again. Plug the Cat 5 back in and wireless would stop.
So I thought I would try the Time Capsule in the closet and see if I could get it to work. Pretty much the same thing, except at this point I figured out if I went in and told it NOT to create a wifi network the wired portion worked fine and all the wired computers in the house worked fine. Of course, then I didn't have Wifi.
I'm not clueless when it comes to networking, but I can NOT figure this out! Can either the Time Capsule or Express Create the wifi network AND also feed the data to the switch for all the wired computers?
To simplify this is what I want my end result to be. I prefer the Time Capsule to be the wireless connection extender, but if I have to have the Express do it, I'm fine with that.
1. Express in the closet creating the wifi network as well as feeding the data to the wired connections via my switch.
2. have the Time capsule in my room at the opposite end of the house plugged into the hard wired connection to extend the wrieless network as well as have wired connections such as my printer and my Mac Mini.
If I can get #1 to work, I don't think I'll have any problems with #2. Help!

I have an equally complex setup with a managed switch actually but I have never seen the TC have this kind of issue.
What I do notice is you have changed the TC from defaults.. you are using a non-default IP range.
I have run across issues like this where people move things from default.
I would like you to start over.. factory reset the TC. That will set it back to default router mode.
Do the min setup on the TC..
1. Change all names from what you were using. That includes the TC name and wireless name/s
Make them short, no spaces and pure alphanumeric because that is the correct way to network. Apple default names with spaces and apostrophes are fundamentally bad.
2. With just the TC plugged into the switch.. and a single computer connected by ethernet. Power cycle the whole network.. this allows the switch to clear all the old MAC address.
3. Test on the computer just ethernet. Turn the wireless off.
The computer must use dhcp and must get an ip from the TC.
It has to get the correct Router.. ie Gateway.. I wish apple could stick with proper network terminology.
And it must get same address or valid DNS server address/es.
If it fails.. please plug ethernet directly to the TC.. bypassing the switch.
You should get the standard IP addressing and internet connection.
If not please post the screenshot from the Mac of the network preferences showing the ethernet setup.
I need to see what address it does get. I need you to make sure the ethernet is the TOP of the list. So rearrange the order of network connection. With the airport off it should just go to the top of the list.
If it appears to be working .. but a browser cannot connect, open a terminal and ping an internet address.
Ping the actual gateway address the ISP gives you and ping the ISP dns address.

DHCP problem with new Time Capsule

Just bought a new time capsule, and cannot get it to work.
I previously have a Belkin router/wireless that works great with my cable modem.
I plugged in my new Time Capsule into my cable modem, and it does not seem to get an IP address from the cable modem. I have it configured to use DHCP as I did with my old Belkin.
I can get the TC to work in bridge mode with my old Belkin.
I've tried resetting the cable modem (both powering off and hitting the reset button).
I've updated the firmware on the TC.
I've tried just the TC and the cable modem, no difference.
I haven't tried to configure things manually, without DHCP since I'm not sure how to configure.
Thoughts? Help?

I also have a belkin and a time capsule, ive managed to get it to work in bridge mode. All you have to do is go into airport utility and find your time capsule, then you click on 'manual setup' and from there click on the internet tab and then at the bottom there should be a dropdown box where you can select 'bridge mode'. Apply the changes, your time capsule will restart, and thats it. You might have to activate bridge mode on your belkin, that easy though.Just type in its IP address into your browser while your connected to it wirelessly to acces its settings (im sure you probably knew that!) and allong the side there will be a 'wireless bridge' button or similar, simply click on that and turn it on.
Its best to let your belkin handle dhcp and nat, i tried fruitlessly for weeks trying to let the time capsule handle this, but i was only bombarded with double nat errors and matching ip addresses ending up in a factory reset of both the TC and the Belkin!
Hope this helped =]

Time Capsule Loses DHCP IP Address and Cannot access Internet

My set up: Astound Cable Modem -> Belkin Router ->TC broadcasting wireless to 2 Apple TVs, 2 AE n units. Up until recently, we were experiencing periodic loss of internet access and rebooting the cable modem and router would get us up and running. After the 7.4.1 Airport update, the TC has been losing its DHCP assigned IP (from the router) and self-assigning an invalid address. If I am tied into the router via ethernet, I can access the internet just fine. However, using the wireless from TC, that is not the case.
I have invested a lot of time and effort into setting up a worry-free wireless network and back up solution for our two laptops, 2 iPhones and Apple TVs. Something has really gone wrong of late. I work from home quite a bit and rely on a VPN connection to remain in touch with the office. Having to restart the network every half hour or so, is not conducive to productivity!
I have tried a number of solutions on these boards, but nothing sticks. I really do not know where to go for help. Drag all the components down to the Genius bar? How do they emulate my specific set up? I suppose they could verify my TC set up is correct? But it is pretty basic: creates a network/bridge mode/serves as a TM back up source for our laptops - works by direct ethernet connect, but not wirelessly. This last problem may be a function of the image bundle name: it includes the MAC address which is different depending on whether we are accessing by ethernet or airport. Not sure about that one…
Anyway, we are really in need of expert advice and I just wanted the forum to know this easy stuff ain't so easy after all! And, that I appreciate all the help I can get from the good people who frequent this place that actually know what they are doing! Unlike me.
Any advice is welcome.

I removed the Belkin router and set up the Airport Time Capsule as the DHCP server. No problems since.

Setting Up Time Capsule as a DHCP server in the router portion

Hello
I have converted my existing wireless router and network hard drive to a single time capsule. My old router was setup as a DHCP server and I had the IP range set to 10.0.0.1 to 10.0.0.50 and had a IMac, Windows PC and Copier connected to the EtherNet ports and my home network ran perfectly but only at 100MPS.
I bought the time capsule to eliminate the old router and network hard rive to a single unit to free up space, but I can't figure out how to set up the time capsule router as a DHCP server? Every time I try and change the router address range and tell the software to configure the time capsule, I get errors saying my DNS range is not valid and the IP range is conflicting to the Internet settings?
My old linksys router was so easy to setup, I just selected DHCP, gave it a range and the router took care of the IP address for the Internet. I consider myself a smart guy but apple has made this a little difficult.
I would also like to setup the time capsule so it show up as an external drive in my mobileme account so I can access my files when I am on the road. HELP!!!
Ron

ronbak wrote:
I have converted my existing wireless router and network hard drive to a single time capsule. My old router was setup as a DHCP server and I had the IP range set to 10.0.0.1 to 10.0.0.50 and had a IMac, Windows PC and Copier connected to the EtherNet ports and my home network ran perfectly but only at 100MPS.
I bought the time capsule to eliminate the old router and network hard rive to a single unit to free up space, but I can't figure out how to set up the time capsule router as a DHCP server? Every time I try and change the router address range and tell the software to configure the time capsule, I get errors saying my DNS range is not valid and the IP range is conflicting to the Internet settings?
In the Internet panel and Internet Connection tab of AirPort Utility, do you have "Configure IPv4" set to "Using DHCP" and "Connection Sharing" set to "Share a public IP address"?
I would also like to setup the time capsule so it show up as an external drive in my mobileme account so I can access my files when I am on the road. HELP!!!
You can set that in the Advanced panel, MobileMe tab.

Time Capsule as DHCP Router and DNS server for larger network - too taxing?

Ok, let me say first that I'm no networking expert, but I have tried to learn a decent amount over the years. I haven't got quite gotten o the level of combing router event logs, though I intend to do that as my next step. My question here though is if my overall network strategy is flawed.
My setup at home is one that may be a bit more extensive than most users have:
Cable modem -> Time Capsule -> Multiple gigabit switches (business grade) -> Wired Cat5e throughout the house and 2 Airport Extremes. I don't know how many total wired and wireless clients I have, but it may be between 30 and 40 (only a few are computers with the rest being game systems, networked DVRs, audio streamers, NAS, etc)
At the moment, the Time Capsule only backs up one machine - a MBP (I have external HDDs connected directly to the desktops). I don't use the TC's HDD for anything else. Also, I have the network configured so that the TC handles DHCP addressing and NAT. The Airport Extremes are in bridge mode.
For the most part, everything works very well. Internet speeds are good, audio streaming works well, no problems with TC backups, etc. The only issue I've run into are dropouts when streaming video content on the network from one device to another (not form the internet). Basically, the stream will pause and then an error will pop up on screen saying that there was a network problem. Now, I know that the specific devices themselves may have issues of their own, but since it's happened on more than one system, I'm wondering if there is a common network culprit- expecting the Time Capsule to handle its duties especially while it is doing a backup.
Here are a few thoughts I have:
1 - From a technical standpoint, I don't know if all client to client network traffic goes through the TC. I was thinking that communication could happen between devices on the same switch without having to go up to the TC and then back down, but maybe I'm wrong. If I am wrong, that certainly is a bottleneck right there. I'm not segregating the video streamers to their own subnet on a new router to isolate the traffic. I'm also not sure if the bottleneck is impacted by static vs dynamic IP addressing. IOW, I don't know if setting the devices up with static IPs would change the flow of traffic to not have to go through the TC (just flow across the switch) or not.
2 - Long ago in a different network setup, I had allowed the wireless access points to assign IPs. However, I found that doing so sometimes created problems accessing some of those devices from a computer or device on a different subnet. As such, I switched over to having the router connected to the modem do all the IP addressing. Maybe this is a bad idea given the temporary nature that some devices will hop on and off the network.
3 - Additionally, in the interests of getting better wireless coverage over the whole house, I switched to using 2 airport extremes configured to use the same SSID (so that devices moving around the house wouldn't need to specifically change networks in order to get better signal). I guess I could let one of those 2 handle IP addressing while the other is in bridge mode (pointing to the primary Extreme vs the TC).
4 - Kind of getting back to the TC as the bottleneck, maybe it shouldn't handle network wide DHCP and NAT duties. If TC backups take network priority, such that other kinds of traffic could hiccup, then I probably need to rethink where the TC should exist in the network. Or, maybe it would be enough to just have the stream sensitive components be on their own subnet.
I know there are potentially multiple flaws in my current strategy, so any suggestions or attempts at correcting my assumptions would be helpful.
Thanks!
Jeff
Message was edited by: Rgbyhkr
Message was edited by: Rgbyhkr

Welcome to the discussions!
1 - Everything goes through the router when it is setup to handle DHCP and NAT
2 - You want your main router, the TC, to handle all DHCP and NAT functions. It will handle up to 250+ connections, so 30-40 devices won't be much of a challenge
3 - Keep both AirPort Extremes in bridge mode to allow the TC to handle the things in #2 above. If you setup an Airport Extreme to give out IP addresses, you'll create a Double NAT issue on your network...which can slow down communications between devices...the thing you are trying to avoid. If you use Xbox live or other interactive services, the online features will not function with a Double NAT on your network.
4 - You want the TC to handle all DHCP and NAT functions as in #2. I assume that you have no single run of CAT5e more than 300 feet.
5 - If you want to create separate sub nets correctly (the AirPorts won't allow you to do this as they are designed for basic home networking), you'll need to look at routers for professional and commercial use, like Cisco.
With as many devices as you have, you may be running out of bandwidth at times. If you only notice the issue during Time Machine backups, and you don't need to backup each hour, take a look at Time Machine Editor to setup backups whenever you like, maybe once a day at 2 AM when things on the network are quiet.
My suggestions are of course opinions. Hopefully you'll receive some other possibly differing views.

My time capsule will allow only one machine to connect to the internet at a time. Connection sharing is "off" on the Airport Utility. When I try to share an IP address I get the message that "DHCP range that I entered conflicts with the WAN IP address" I

Suddenly, my time capsule will not allow more than one computer to connect to the internet at a time. On the Airport Utility on the internet tab, Connection Sharing is "Off (Bridge Mode)" When I try to change it to sharing an IP address, I get two messages that the beginning and ending DHCP addresses that the DHCP addresses I've entered conflict with the WAN address of my Apple wireless device."
Any ideas?
Thanks

I use a DSL to connect to the internet. The modem is a Westell C90-810030-06. Two things happened in connection with the fail. I upgraded the firmware in both my Time Capsule (connected to the DSL) and the Airport Extreme (connected to my printer--used to extend the network). I also upgraded my Colof Nook to the Android Faux Tablet version. I can't imagine that that is creating some sort of mismatch.
I have now downgraded the firmware on the Time Capsule to 7.4.1 which is what I had before. Fortunately, I found the trick to downloading the older airport utility to find the older firmware. All the older versions disappeared from my computers.
I still have the same problem. Wifi works fine. If a second device connects to the wifi, then it works fine, but the first no longer has a connection.
And my Airport Extreme is not working at all. It cannot be seen by the computer. I tried resetting it. I'm going to connect it by ethernet and downgrade the firmware on it.
I appreciate any help. This is so frustrating.

Time Capsule DHCP

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