Help with Time Machine over Wifi

[trifona]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2007 iMac running El Capitan. Its mostly used as a home server for media. I have attached to it an external drive via FW800 for Time Machine.

I picked up a new 2019 16" MBP back in December. I was able to figure out how to mount the FW drive over the network by using the Finder command: Connect to Server ----> smb://iMac._smb._tcp.local, and mounting the external drive. The external drive stays connected to the iMac, but was able to backup both computers (the MBP exclusively over wifi). This had been humming along without hiccup for 4 month until....

2 weeks ago I upgraded (our modem and) 5-year old Asus RT-AC66R router, with a new Netgear R8000P. Since that day Time Machine on the MBP cannot see the external drive.

I can mount the iMac, all its folders, and even the external drive in my MBP's Finder, but cannot get Time Machine to see it. Is this a router issue, or did I "break" something I'm not thinking about in the networking side of things?.

I dont know anything about networking. Apple tech support was of no help back in December or this week...I only got the Time Machine working over Wifi when I found that smb protocol in an old Macworld article.

 

[satcomer]

You best bet is mount the drive and keep it mounted if you consider using the basic Time Machine that was made for DAS (Direct Attached Storage) only!
So this way Time Machine can access that drive anytime you make a change!

I urge you us go third party with the best third party Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper. This way you make a bootable clone instead!