DIY Time Capsule? Looking for ideas...

[dave22r]

I finally canceled my tmobile@home service and can buy a real router. I was pumped about a Time Machine... until reading reviews from dozens of angry owners who had dead 18 month old TMs. $300 for 18 months of service doesn't make sense. I think I can do better... maybe!

So here we go. I'm looking at an Airport Extreme, dual band... no explanation necessary.

that will go to a Belkin USB 2.0& Firewire 6-Port Hub For Mac Mini

and will split to my printer and a time machine backup HD. I was looking at this Iomega MiniMax Hard Drive

It all looks pretty and seems to be reviewed decent. There aren't many (any?) other routers on the market that will handle a printer AND hard drive at the same time. I read the Extreme needs a powered USB hub in the support docs but this one seems to work especially since both peripherals are powered on their own.

I'm not too concerned about ascetics, but these all seemed to go together. Money also isn't a huge issue, but bang for the buck is good. I'm just looking for something won't need replacing next year.

Am I going in the right direction or looking at junk?

 

[slapguts]

I have pretty much the same set-up, minus the snazzy USB hub (I want one of those, though). Works great together.

My printer and hard drive won't both work without a powered hub, but I've heard some do. It seems to be a hit or miss kind of thing. Might want to get a powered hub that still works without power, and try it both ways.