Existing WIFI as WAN

I have 'Timecapsule' network which is all configured and using fixed IPs, I would like to avoid changing this if possible.
But it is to be moved to an area where there is no hard wire Internet/WAN conection, there will however be WIFI access. So I'm hoping there is a way the I can use the existing WIFI at the new location as the 'WAN'/Internet for the Timecapsule.
If anyone has a suggestions for how to make this work it would be very much appreciated. I can buy extra equipment if needed I'm just not sure of the best route for this problem.
Thanks

Are you asking if your wireless Time Capsule can connect to another wireless access point? It can, you will need admin control of the primary wireless access point. If you are trying to connect to a broadband WiFi then the answer is no, you would need an ExpressCard.

The only info we have been given is that there will be public WIFI access available at the new location. So I have no admin access to the equipment there. I have suggested at best we would have to do a site visit to configure our kit based on what we find. But I'm just trying to work out what kit will work. There is no problem with spending a bit of money if needed but it would be useful not to have to reconfigure the LAN setting of the Timemachine LAN and devices as there are quite a few. So really I want to keep the Time machine acting as the gateway the our kit.
I will look at the ExpressCard although I'm trying to see how it would help.
Thanks very much for your help.

Uh oh... Forget about the Express card. The public router is handling DHCP and NAT. Do you have any other options? You are going to lose your TM settings.

Well we are hoping that they can provide a hard link but we were told this was unlikely and to try to cover all angles.
I guess we will just have to do like you said and loose all the setting. I guess we would have to set the TimeMachine to extend the local nework and use the local DHCP and gateway for everything.
Thanks again, I will keep checking back but this will have to be decided in the next day if we are to be able to prepare.
But thanks for the help.

What you could probably do is set up a dedicated computer as a gateway of some sort (my terminology here may not be quite accurate!). The gateway would connect to the public wi-fi, then act as a server to which the Time Machine is connected and your other computers/hardware would basically connect to the public wi-fi through the gateway. This would let you preserve your static internal IP addresses.

EDIT: You may not even need a dedicated computer for that... I'm sure there are dedicated gateway devices that can do the job.

The idea of a device that shares the connection that it makes over WIFI is probably the one we will end up using and it will have to be a Mac or PC.
It sounds like a job that you should be able to buy something like a router for but I don't know of any routers that use their WIFI to look for an Internet connection.
So I'm hoping that I can put a USB WIFI adapter on a mac to connect to public WIFI then share that connection to the Ethernet port on the Mac. Then connect the Ethernet port to the WAN port on the TimeCapsule.
Hopefully with the right settings this will do the trick.
Thanks again for your help

JonEP said:

The idea of a device that shares the connection that it makes over WIFI is probably the one we will end up using and it will have to be a Mac or PC.
It sounds like a job that you should be able to buy something like a router for but I don't know of any routers that use their WIFI to look for an Internet connection.
So I'm hoping that I can put a USB WIFI adapter on a mac to connect to public WIFI then share that connection to the Ethernet port on the Mac. Then connect the Ethernet port to the WAN port on the TimeCapsule.
Hopefully with the right settings this will do the trick.
Thanks again for your help

Click to expand...

What I would do is email 3Com and ask for their suggestions. Surely if anyone makes a dedicated device that you can use in lieu of a computer, it'd be them.