airport extreme/time capsule soldout on Amazon

[SaudiMac]

For the last 2 weeks Apple's AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule are out of stock at Amazon.
The AirPort was available used for prices ranging from $109 to $190.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UE8LRY/sr=8-1/qid=1254492667/

While on the Apple store:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB763/AirPort-Extreme
it is available Within 24hrs.


anyone thinks that Apple is planning a refresh? Do you think it have anything to do with the finalization of 802.11n standard?

 

[MrPeanut]

I can't imagine they'd update it again, didnt they do it recently. I wish they would do though because its a little expensive at the moment IMO

 

[Crucial9]

I predict New models

My Extreme was acting up on me, I just not at work (I work for a major electronics retailer) went to buy one to take home and see if that solved the problems I was having; well we are sold out. I checked the other stores in the region and they are almos all also sold out and the warehouse has none (usually a few hundred available).

The item is not "deleted" yet, but this usually predicts one of 2 gthings, 1) and updated model is due out soon, 2)they are just backordered (but our site does not say backordered which is usually does if it is).

I think they will release a new model in March (as always) and I remember about a year ago hearing rumors that they would morph the Airport Extreme and Apple TV functionality, I hope so.

 

[SaudiMac]

So what's with lack of stock at Amazon?
right now all it's all "used" stock
(3 weeks and counting).

 

[DoFoT9]

to all parties concerned..

do not buy a Time Capsule as it will most likely fail after 18months or so of use.

wait until a new revision that is properly ventilated!

 

[SaudiMac]

to all parties concerned..

do not buy a Time Capsule as it will most likely fail after 18months or so of use.

wait until a new revision that is properly ventilated!

are we talking about the first generation or the new one with dual band wifi?

 

[DoFoT9]

are we talking about the first generation or the new one with dual band wifi?

ALL Time Capsules in existence are effected by this. i would ride it out and hope that apple changes the design.

 

[SaudiMac]

ALL Time Capsules in existence are effected by this. i would ride it out and hope that apple changes the design.

I got my time capsule April 2008. that's almost 18 months ago... don't jinx it

 

[DoFoT9]

I got my time capsule April 2008. that's almost 18 months ago... don't jinx it

ours is 20 months, it died lastweek. i have been researching the problem thoroughly and i know the cause down to the exact few capacitors.

the problem is that there is very little airflow inside of the device, and the PSU (power supply unit) is inside there, the capacitors simply cannot handle heat for that long. i have my TC in pieces currently, just got to buy the correct capacitors to replace it.

did you purchase the TC(Time Capsule) with a mac computer? if the mac computer is still under warranty then the TC will be covered. if not then you are stuffed.

sorry for hijacking, just warning people.

 

[MythicFrost]

We have a time capsule, first gen I think, it gets incredibly hot and the wifi is slower than our old Motorola wireless modem.
We've had it for probably 18 months now , so I can only hope that does not happen.
How's the Airport Extreme Base Station? is it also poorly ventilated? or is it OK?

I've always wondered, if the operating temperature for the TC is 15-35 celsius, and it feels at least 35, probably 40-50 at some times, could that weaken the wifi signal significantly?

Kind Regards

 

[DoFoT9]

We have a time capsule, first gen I think, it gets incredibly hot and the wifi is slower than our old Motorola wireless modem.
We've had it for probably 18 months now , so I can only hope that does not happen.

one can only hope that it wont happen, but from what ive heard its inevitable. sorry to say.

How's the Airport Extreme Base Station? is it also poorly ventilated? or is it OK?

the AEBS is fine! the PSU has an external PSU. nothing to worry about there. but then there are lots of people who have difficultly backing up to an external USB (who knows why). lose-lose here.

I've always wondered, if the operating temperature for the TC is 15-35 celsius, and it feels at least 35, probably 40-50 at some times, could that weaken the wifi signal significantly?

Kind Regards

my contacts have measured the temperature and its at least 60°C at times. the fans are also badly programmed as well, pointing the wrong way etcetc.

wifi signal/throughput will (of course) be effected but not on a level that us humans would notice.

 

[bagelche]

I was just looking to purhase an AEBS and noticed the dearth of 'em on amazon as well. I find that curious. Considering how my 8yo Netgear router has ben acting, I'm in need of a new one. Other than the vague desire-based rumor of TV integration, I've seen nothing else to suggest a new one is on the horizon. Best way to resolve that is to buy one, of couse.

 

[MythicFrost]

wifi signal/throughput will (of course) be effected but not on a level that us humans would notice.

Ah, well that means my issue of the TC going approximately 3-4x slower, and sometimes even slower than that, is still unresolved :/

It's a bit sad when your Apple TC is out performed by an old wireless modem from about 2-3 years ago.

Kind Regards

 

[DoFoT9]

Ah, well that means my issue of the TC going approximately 3-4x slower, and sometimes even slower than that, is still unresolved :/

It's a bit sad when your Apple TC is out performed by an old wireless modem from about 2-3 years ago.

Kind Regards

are you sure that its TC? or is the browser? or maybe the internet as whole?

in the last few months our household as well as a number of friends across the internet has noticed a big slowdown. maybe its starting to get too busy? anyway, try a local network throughput test (by copying files from one computer to another etcetc) and measure the numbers that you see in Activity Monitor. that will help to somewhat narrow down the problem.

 

[MythicFrost]

are you sure that its TC? or is the browser? or maybe the internet as whole?

Yeah, I've done a fair bit of testing, nothing that would be absolutely clear, but it's definitely the TC, at least it appears that way.

Doing YouTube? takes 2-3x less on the Motorola compared to the TC, via the iPod Touch or the Computer.

I'm directly connected via ethernet to the TC, I've noticed a slow down lately but have never experienced it before, this slow down for me is new, but always wirelessly it's slower.

in the last few months our household as well as a number of friends across the internet has noticed a big slowdown. maybe its starting to get too busy? anyway, try a local network throughput test (by copying files from one computer to another etcetc) and measure the numbers that you see in Activity Monitor. that will help to somewhat narrow down the problem.

I might try that sometime, thanks, should I monitor activity monitor on both computers or just the one I'm transferring from? or maybe the one that is receiving the data?

Also, what interval should the activity monitor be set to, if it's set to 10 second updates will it note all the data that's changed since the last update?
I have my activity monitor set to update twice a second I think.

Kind Regards

 

[DoFoT9]

Yeah, I've done a fair bit of testing, nothing that would be absolutely clear, but it's definitely the TC, at least it appears that way.

Doing YouTube? takes 2-3x less on the Motorola compared to the TC, via the iPod Touch or the Computer.

interesting problem you have there.

the motorola is a wireless router? you have a separate modem? your connection model would look like either this:
internet -->
modem -->
TC -->computers (ethernet)
TC-->Touch (wireless)

or this:
internet -->
modem -->
motorola -->computers (ethernet)
motorola -->Touch (wireless)

(forgive the bad diagram). or is the setup a bit different? (performance really depends )

I'm directly connected via ethernet to the TC, I've noticed a slow down lately but have never experienced it before, this slow down for me is new, but always wirelessly it's slower.

wirelessly will always generally be slower yup.

I might try that sometime, thanks, should I monitor activity monitor on both computers or just the one I'm transferring from? or maybe the one that is receiving the data?

preferably from the computer you are sending FROM, but it doesnt really matter as both in/out activity is measured.

Also, what interval should the activity monitor be set to, if it's set to 10 second updates will it note all the data that's changed since the last update?
I have my activity monitor set to update twice a second I think.

2 seconds for me too if you send a ~1GB file then you will have enough of the graph to indicate the transfer rates of the TC.

to be honest i have no idea why its going so slow - there are so many variables. we also had big slow downs on ours too. i guess it could be that its dying, but i am no electrical expert so i cannot say. i as under the impression that it either worked or didnt work, a capacitor simply cannot operate at half power and still function properly, unless there is some sort of "slow down mechanism" built in? i doubt that.

bed calls, i will be back in the 6 hrs or so!

 

[MythicFrost]

The diagram would go like this:
Cable -> Plugs into Wireless modem
Ethernet from Wireless Modem to TC
Ethernet from TC to my Computer
Wireless to everyone else.

My dad is normally connected to the TC, and his computer goes just fine, but his machine is about 3 feet from the TC. Not sure if it's better on the Motorola or not.

wirelessly will always generally be slower yup.

I know, but it's recently started slowing down (the ethernet).
I was comparing Wireless to Wireless, the TC seems much slower.

Thanks

Kind Regards

 

[SaudiMac]

so I will hold off buying a TC for now (out of stock anyway)



However no one reported any problems with an AirPort Extreme?

 

[bagelche]

However no one reported any problems with an AirPort Extreme?

It appears that the problem stems from having the power supply inside the casing of the Time Capsule itself, resulting in overheating that ultimately breaks down the components. The Airport Extreme, on the other hand, has an external power supply so its heat dissipation does not affect the integrity of the unit itself.

 

[dmm219]

Can anybody comment on how well time machine performs with an AEBS and a USB HD as compared to a TC?

If my TC dies, I think i'll be going that route. That is unless Apple fesses up and replaces all of our bad TC's with a reliable backup device (no chance in hell) with a recall or extended warranty...

 

[DoFoT9]

The diagram would go like this:
Cable -> Plugs into Wireless modem
Ethernet from Wireless Modem to TC
Ethernet from TC to my Computer
Wireless to everyone else.

hmm having that one extra hop between the routers would most certainly ad on a bit of latency. i wonder if that would explain the slow-downs.

I know, but it's recently started slowing down (the ethernet).
I was comparing Wireless to Wireless, the TC seems much slower.

Thanks

Kind Regards

i would love to see the local copy, both from wireless to wireless and from ethernet (TC) to wireless. keep sending from the same wireless computer that way it would help to keep the some variable and possibly show the slowdowns of TC if they are there

so I will hold off buying a TC for now (out of stock anyway)

However no one reported any problems with an AirPort Extreme?

bagelche has it in a nutshell

It appears that the problem stems from having the power supply inside the casing of the Time Capsule itself, resulting in overheating that ultimately breaks down the components. The Airport Extreme, on the other hand, has an external power supply so its heat dissipation does not affect the integrity of the unit itself.

excellent description! you said it much better then i ever could have

Can anybody comment on how well time machine performs with an AEBS and a USB HD as compared to a TC?

the performance of the AEBS is.... somewhat limited... many people report that their HDDs disappear randomly, and that sometimes even their backups are corrupted when they try to restore. i think that the problems occur for two reasons.
1. people use different interfaces to backup (e.g. wireless v wired), which confusing the TM application (wireless has a different backup scheme to wired)
2. people dont always finish the backup and may cancel it to put the computer to sleep or something.

If my TC dies, I think i'll be going that route. That is unless Apple fesses up and replaces all of our bad TC's with a reliable backup device (no chance in hell) with a recall or extended warranty...

AFAIK apple hasnt realised that this is a problem yet.. its painful to see and it will take a lot of people for them to wake up.

 

[kellte2]

i don't see an update for the AEBS or the TC. From their raw specs, they are both at the very top of the market - with the exception of the new D-Link with the screen, but who needs a screen on a router.

The AEBS was just updated in March of this year, and considering the technology, I just don't see another update happening in the near future.