Connecting a wireless router to an Airport extreme.

I have a Timecapsule and an wireless router from my ISP. What I want to do is connect the Timecapsule to my modem and then the ISP router into the timecapsule via ethernet cable so that I can make the network extend into my room as it won't reach with the Timecapsule alone.

First off are there any settings that I should alter on the timecapsule to allow this to happen smoothly. It seems to work at the moment with default settings but it can be very stop start sometimes. Is there anything that I should change?

Secondly, I want to port forward on my computer. This means that I will have to open ports on the ISP router and on the Timecapsule (I think) but how do I do this correctly?

I may also be worth mentioning that BOTH wireless routers are making a wireless signal. Don't know if that changes anything.

Any suggestions welcomed!


Andy ;D

Hi hojkoff_101,

Firstly, do you have a wireless router or an ADSL modem and a seperate wireless router supplied by your ISP?


The following setup assumes a combined ISP wireless/adsl modem router:

i have configured mine as follows, the only addition i have is an Airport Express to extend the wireless network from the Time Capsule (TC) and do away with ethernet cable runs, so ignore that entry if not relevant to your intentions - this works without fault:

ADSL connection>ISP Wireless modem router (seperate wireless network broadcasting channels a/g/b only and unique SSID: for windows laptops etc) >ethernet connection>TimeCapsule>TimeCapsule set to 'create wireless network' (unique SSID for seperate Apple / 'n' class or 5GHZ capable products)>TimeCapsule set to 'Using DCHP'under TCP/IP settings>ethernet connection from iMac to TC (for faster backups)>Airport Express >set to 'extend wireless network' (in this case the 'Apple' SSID/'n' class network), and for airtunes...happy days.

If you set up your network as above, (or wanting similar) ensure that your router is set as the DHCP server, which is part of the configuration as you progress through the TC setup wizard - this will mean that it issues your TC (and any other devices connected wirelessly) with an IP address for your network - important for configuring port forwarding easily...

The TC will provide a superior wireless signal, so unless you specifically require two wireless networks at home, log into your modem/router and disengage the wireless access point option - this will mean that your ISP router will act only as an adsl modem router, supplying internet connectivity to your TC, which will provide the wireless part of your network (but not issue IP addresses - the router will do this)...TC should be '(Off) Bridge Mode' if your settings are correct.

Once you have set this up, and all is working correctly, you can then think about port forwarding....

Probably relevant for another forum but....you will not need to change any settings on TC if you have the above setup - all port forwarding will be configurable on the adsl router, which i can guarantee will be pretty straight forward (depending on which ports you are looking to forward, and which router you are dealing with)...

Also bear in mind that, if you are running proprietary firewalls on on any PCs etc that these will need to be configured to allow traffic through the ports you are specifying for the application/service, aswell as the router. Depending on what version of OS X you are running, routing statements are handled through the firewall preferences/options...

Let me know how you get on...