iPhone SE II

Tom Meade1 wrote:

Idris - everything is up & running - the network is wireless thanks to Time Capsule. No, I haven’t spoken to my provider re ditching the external modem (replacing phone company original unit with lower specs) - the modem has long been registered with the service provider - which they send in a cable to my house.

Then, leave that be.

My question was prompted by reading that the phone has its own internal modem.

Yes, the phone has what is sometimes referred to as a "cellular modem". That is the chip that allows it to connect to the cellular network. Despite it being called, colloquially, the same thing as the modem you use for your home network, it's not the same. It can't replace that box in your home network.

Tom Meade1 wrote:

if the modem’s been replaced by a chip

Then....?

I really don't know what that means.

An iPhone has nothing to do with your modem, ethernet, or a Time Capsule, at least not in any configuration I can think of.

If you have been using the external modem with your Time Capsule up until now and it is working, I would leave the whole thing alone. Again, you can't use your iPhone in place of the modem in this situation.

If things are not working, you'll need to provide a whole lot more information.

• What kind of network do you have at home? Cable? Fiber optic? DSL? Satellite?
• What equipment was provided by the internet service provider? Device name and model number would be useful.
• Have you been using the external modem with this network up until now?
• Have you asked your internet service provider if you need this external modem?
• Have you had the Time Capsule connected to the network before?

No cellular phone requires an external modem. All current iPhones (all current phones?) have built-in WiFi in addition to their cellular capabilities.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish that's prompting you to ask this question?

As far as I know, you can't connect an ethernet cable to an iPhone. There may be kludges out there but I can't think why most people would ever need to do this.

It's still not clear exactly what you're trying to do. Based on what you've described, it sounds as if you're trying to add the Time Capsule to a network. If so, I'm not sure how the iPhone enters into this at all. You can't back an iPhone up to a Time Capsule. Also, using the iPhone's personal hotspot for something like Time Capsule doesn't really sound like a good idea.

So, again, what is your end goal here? What are you trying to connect the Time Capsule to? Do you have internet service wherever it is that you're trying to connect the Time Capsule? Internet service providers generally set you up with a "modem" (though that term is not strictly accurate when talking about cable or fiber optic networks). They are generally these days a combined modem/router. You should be able to connect the Time Capsule to the box you got from the ISP using an ethernet cable. But, again, not sure what the phone has to do with this.

What are you using the external modem for currently? Describe your current network setup.