hello all, i need a new wireless router and an external hdd to back up my stuff, i was thinking of getting the ap extreme and connecting it to an external hdd, but then stumbled upon the time capsule and it looks like a great deal, but i heard that the power supply in it failed for alot of ppl after 8-18 month is that true? does that happen with the ones currently for sale?
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thinking about buying time capsule....
- Thread starter Sam235
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I have an AEBS with an external seagate 750GB 7200RPM connected and networked. It operated exactly the same as a time capsule. If you like the aesthetics of the airport extreme then save money and buy the parts separately. Otherwise the same effect can be had with most routers and external hard drives. The time capsule is way overpriced.
I agree I would purchase the hard drive and wireless router as two separate items. Then is one goes bad the other is still working. You can purchase a much better router and hard drive for much less money than the $499 Apple charges for a 2TB one they offer.
Just be careful. I have a 500GB MyBook hooked up as a TM backup drive through my AEBS for my wife's MacBook and so far in the past month it has failed twice, giving an error message that says the backup disc cannot be used and the backup needs to be re-written (not sure of the exact wording). In effect, we have had to re-do the entire initial backup (which generally takes several hours to days based on how large your internal drive is.) The strange thing is, I can open up TM and see her old backups and pull data from the drive without issue, it will just not add any more files to the backup drive through Time Machine. It's like the filepath gets corrupted in some way, but only for writing, not reading.
In theory, this should work, but I am having issues with it. Are there some combinations of drives and routers that this is an issue? I have the single-band circa 2007 Airport Extreme and a 500GB MyBook.
Just a friendly warning that perhaps not all combinations will work effortlessly.
I tried a WD Mybook when i first started my setup and it didn't play well with my mac either. I switched to a seagate and things have been running smoothly for about 4 years now. I did use time machine to back up for awhile but I didn't need that elaborate of a backup so now I just do a full back up manually every month or two.
OP, when you do get your AEBS or other router and external drive do this. Set up your wireless network, get the drive connected and playing with you mac via wireless. Then disconnect it from the AEBS/router and perform your first time machine back up wired. It will take a long time to do the first one over wifi. After that your backups should be relatively small and will only take a few minutes. You can schedule them to happen over night so they don't bother you.
But you can't do this can you? Time Machine will not recognize this as the same drive if it's connected via USB and then WiFi. The filepath will be different in both instances.
In your method, perhaps as a manual update, but not with TM.
But you can't do this can you? Time Machine will not recognize this as the same drive if it's connected via USB and then WiFi. The filepath will be different in both instances.
In your method, perhaps as a manual update, but not with TM.
I don't know what to say. I had my external networked, set up time machine, the disconnected it and hardwired to my mbp and did the first time machine backup manually. After that I reconnected to my AEBS and time machine worked. It's been awhile since I did it but I imagine I had to redirect the file path one time in there but otherwise it worked just fine. I only used it for a few weeks though. the detail of backups wasn't necessary for me.
Or simply plug in the computer via ethernet for the first backup and not worry about saving a little time but possibly adding some frustration of trying via usb.
I really like the time capsule's form factor of having everything together, but it is true that the cost is quite a lot for what you get. I'm hoping that the rumors of newer A4/A5 based time capsules prove to be correct and we get some of them soon.
I really like the time capsule's form factor of having everything together, but it is true that the cost is quite a lot for what you get. I'm hoping that the rumors of newer A4/A5 based time capsules prove to be correct and we get some of them soon.
I'll try it next time. BTW: Since TM runs in the background and I never really notice, I don't limit the program. I just let it run. I'm sure the 'detail of the backups' will save me someday.
I love my Time Capsule. Easy to configure. An EXCELLENT dual band router and hard drive all in one "smallish" box.
Like they say, "It just works!"
Like they say, "It just works!"
Couldn't agree more. Love mine I have a wd passport hooked up And haven't had a problem yet
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TM working great
For what it's worth, my TM has been working for over 3 years backing up 2-I-macs and a macbook. Never had a problem. It just runs in the background. we have lost power many times and the router relocates the Macs immediately and the back-ups continue. I have to admit I have rarely had to go to the TM to locate anything but the file are there. I could be surprised someday but so far it gives me peace of mind.
For what it's worth, my TM has been working for over 3 years backing up 2-I-macs and a macbook. Never had a problem. It just runs in the background. we have lost power many times and the router relocates the Macs immediately and the back-ups continue. I have to admit I have rarely had to go to the TM to locate anything but the file are there. I could be surprised someday but so far it gives me peace of mind.
To chip away at that piece of mind:
3 years is a point where you should seriously think about finding a new backup device or a brand new TM. Hard drives die, and you are getting to a point in it's life where I would start to get worried about drive failure. I like to replace my backup drives every 18 months honestly.
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