How to connect Time Capsule directly to MacBook Pro

The modem/router is: Sagemcom F@st 5366 LTE from Optus.

Well worth a go..

I don't much like the Sagemcom stuff.. but it is what it is.. as President Trump would say.

Reset the TC to factory.

Hold in the reset button then power on .. you need three hands to do this.. keep holding in reset for about 10sec.. Front LED will flash rapidly.. release the reset. If you miss just try again.

With the TC reset wait about 2 min for it to boot with factory settings.

Now you can use the MBP with airport utility to configure the TC.

Plug TC WAN port by ethernet to LAN on Sagemcom.

Run through the standard configuration.. using short names etc as mentioned.

Once you have it configured.. and updated.. go in again and turn off the wifi.. or if you like you can keep using the wifi on the TC.. for Gen5 AC wireless model it probably is almost as good as the sagemcom.

If you run into issues just post a few screenshots from the airport utility and we can suggest fixes.

I have bad news for you.

You cannot plug it in by USB. The TC can only be accessed over ethernet or wireless.

More bad news.. you don't have an ethernet port. You can buy a thunderbolt to ethernet adapter but that is not really great idea.

You can plug the TC to the main router.. tell us which one you have and I can likely help you since I am in Melbourne.

Set the TC into bridge mode and simply connect to it via the router you are using now for your NBN connection. There are some tricks involved in making it stable but it should still work.

Reset the TC to factory.. no files on the hard disk are lost.

Use airport utility to configure using short names, with no spaces and pure alphanumerics. Passwords with same rules but 8-20 characters. Just need to turn off its wifi which is easy once configured.

Please note if the laptop is running Catalina now.. a TC is not the greatest target for Time Machine.

I would recommend either using a different backup app, e.g. Carbon Copy Cloner.

Or I would buy a simple USB hard disk.. plug that into the MBP and use that. USB drive is faster, cheaper and more reliable than any other option.

2013 is the change over year.

The previous model is N wireless pizza box shaped version.. the 2013 is tall tower AC wireless model.

As just a BTW.. 2013 makes the TC 7 years old.. and it really has likely reached end of life whichever model.

Not saying you cannot still get a year or two out of it but worth thinking about sticking it on eBay etc in working condition and let someone else figure out repairs. Disks past 5 years are touch and go. It is also much easier to give it a full erase now while it is still working rather than wait until it dies.

I do prefer the older model.. in the sense of repairability. I can keep them going a few years.. so if you have the A1409 (look at the label on the bottom).. it is poor wireless but fine for backup still for a few more years (as long as you are prepared to give it some love).

Hanging onto hard disks beyond their natural life.. leads to expensive medical bills..

Of the many iterations Apple made the Gen5 AC model desperately needed a follow up it never got.. which is a pity.. it only took them to Gen3 to fix the first series.. the second series which should have had new models in 2015 and 2017.. would finally have measured up. (Huge guesswork.. but they did tend to get things right after a few goes).

It would still be something to sell off after 5years though.. as TC has no raid.. and no built in automatic backup. It was a simple device for network backups before everything got too secure and complicated.