Time Capsule with N and G? Please Help!

[benlee]

OK here is my setup:

I have:

A MBP (N capabilities) and a MB (G capabilities) both wirelessly backing up to 500GB Time Capsule. I also have a 500GB external hooked up to the Time Capsule which stores my movies and TV shows which stream to my Apple TV and XBox. I also Have an iPhone and a Wii (G capabilities).

I was wondering if it is possible to hook up my airport express (G) to the Time Machine and put everything wireless on that band and put my MBP on the N band? However, will I still be able to do wireless Time Machine backups from the MB and access the external hard drive?

Thanks For any help!

[waw74]

yes, run an ethernet cable between the time machine and the express,
set the TM for N only,
Set up different network names MyNetwork-G & MyNetwork-N or whatever
on the express on the internet settings page, put connection sharing to "off bridged mode"

anything connected to the G network, will be just as if it was connected via ethernet to the Time machine (well not speed wise, but you know what i mean)

[benlee]

yes, run an ethernet cable between the time machine and the express,
set the TM for N only,
Set up different network names MyNetwork-G & MyNetwork-N or whatever
on the express on the internet settings page, put connection sharing to "off bridged mode"

anything connected to the G network, will be just as if it was connected via ethernet to the Time machine (well not speed wise, but you know what i mean)

Yes. I finally found some documentation (not as concise as yours and a bit more confusing) on how to do it.

However, I set it up and did not notice any significant improvements and when I tested a backup from a G device it was taking for ever to "prepare for backup" But it took forever even when I just used the Capsule in compatibility mode so I'm not sure if there is any advantage to it.

[waw74]

You shouldn't see much difference in the "G", but the MBP should speed up on the "N"
keep in mind on the "G" network, if you have 1 "B" device connected, the whole network drops to "B"

and your speeds may vary, but on my network at home,
G runs about 1-2 MB / second
N runs about 5-7 MB / second (i'm in 5ghz N only mode, normally in the same room as the express)

Gigabit wired, 10 - 20 MB /second depending on which drive i'm going to.

[benlee]

You shouldn't see much difference in the "G", but the MBP should speed up on the "N"
keep in mind on the "G" network, if you have 1 "B" device connected, the whole network drops to "B"

and your speeds may vary, but on my network at home,
G runs about 1-2 MB / second
N runs about 5-7 MB / second (i'm in 5ghz N only mode, normally in the same room as the express)

Gigabit wired, 10 - 20 MB /second depending on which drive i'm going to.

How do you test the speeds?

[waw74]

to test speeds either
http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/menumeters/
it will let you put a network speed gauge in the menu bar, plus it has CPU & memoury usage, temperatures, fans, and hard drive activity.

or apple's activity monitor
it's in the utilities folder in applications,
it has all the same stuff, without having to install anything

[SnowLeopard2008]

Another alternative is iStat menus which I think has a wireless network portion. It also goes in your menu bar.

[benlee]

Another alternative is iStat menus which I think has a wireless network portion. It also goes in your menu bar.

i have iStat menus I just didn't know it had that feature. Thanks.

[tdhurst]

Whatever happened to the old days when you just copied files to and from on each computer and timed it?

[waw74]

ok, i'm a dork, i too use istat menus, haven't used menu meters in forever.