In the reader’s case, their Time Capsule is connected to another router that serves the home, and its assigned network address would switch to a “self-assigned” address, one that a network adapter on a computer, mobile device, or base station will employ when it can’t obtain a legitimate network address. The AirPort Extreme Base Station, Time Capsule, and other Apple gateways may be discontinued, but they still shouldn’t show a green LED on the front if the Internet can’t be reached.
The Ethernet jacks on an AirPort Extreme Base Station have green LED status lights next to them. They tried resetting and reconfiguring everything to no avail. They could connect to the base station and configure it, too. One reader recently described a problem in which their Time Capsule was chained to another router for their network, and it would maintain a green LED status light on its front even when it would routinely drop the Internet connection.
