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Time Capsule Alternative???

R

rpc1977

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 31, 2009
6
0
I have been reading all the horror stories about Time Capsule.
What are the reliable and effective alternatives?
I don't mind plugging the hard drive into my router, after all the wireless capability is what I am looking for.
I am looking for 1TB of storage.
If anyone can recommend any good make/models, I would appreciate it.
 
I am very happy with my TC and would highly recommend it. Remember, you will hear a lot more bad stuff than good, because those who are satisfied with their hardware/software don't make noise. :)
 
http://timecapsuledead.org/

They seem to think the heat levels are lower now they are using WD Caviar Green drives in the Time Capsule, though it's up to you if you want to take the risk.

I've got a 1TB WD My Book USB plugged into my AirPort Extreme and it works just the same as the Time Capsule.
 
OllyW said:
http://timecapsuledead.org/

They seem to think the heat levels are lower now they are using WD Caviar Green drives in the Time Capsule, though it's up to you if you want to take the risk.

I've got a 1TB WD My Book USB plugged into my AirPort Extreme and it works just the same as the Time Capsule.
Click to expand...

Can I connect an external hard drive into my Siemens router that came with from my internet provider, or not? You mentioned the AirPort Extreme, is that the correct way to connect a hard drive wirelessly?
 
rpc1977 said:
Can I connect an external hard drive into my Siemens router that came with from my internet provider, or not? You mentioned the AirPort Extreme, is that the correct way to connect a hard drive wirelessly?
Click to expand...

Only if the router has a USB port and is designed to work with hard drives plugged in. You only tend to find it on higher end routers, the cheap ones packaged with your internet will probably not have this feature.

Another way is to get a NAS drive and connect it to your router by ethernet. You have to take care because not all NAS drives will work with Time Machine. You can read about NAS drives at SmallNetBuilder.
 
I'm currently running my Airport Extreme with a G-Drive 750GB it has been very reliable for about a year now.

The G-Drive connects to the Airport Extreme via USB which frees up the FW800 cable to attach to my Laptop when I need to do small editing jobs.

The drive has a partition for Time Machine and another partition as a scratch drive for editing.

I like the G-Drive because it looks like it belongs to part of the mac family of products (Similar housing to a Mac Pro) and it runs very quietly for a 7200rpm drive (The housing is designed with exterior heat sinks, so no fan. Less Moving parts = less things that can break). :D:apple::cool:
 
OllyW said:
No, I've been using Snow Leopard since day one and haven't come across this or any other errors with my wireless Time Machine backups.
Click to expand...

Good to know, thanks. Think I'll test the water with this again.
 
I've had a 1TB Time Capsule for over a year now. No mproblems at all. In fact I find nit to be very reliable. I keep it in a room in my basement that is very cool and rest it on two pencils for ventilation underneath it.
 
Alternative

Hi,i have a 1TB external Drive plugged into my AirPort Extreme and it works just the same as the Time Capsule, and i also have the added advantage of plugging in a bigger drive in the future and also a printer, hth
Regards Andy
 
Fuzzy Logic said:
Hi,i have a 1TB external Drive plugged into my AirPort Extreme and it works just the same as the Time Capsule, and i also have the added advantage of plugging in a bigger drive in the future and also a printer, hth
Regards Andy
Click to expand...

The Time Capsule also has a USB port for sharing printers and adding external hard drives to expand the storage capacity.
 
I have a few WD Studio drives that I've been very happy with. But regardless of the manufacturer, once you plug an external HD into the AEBS USB port, you'll get the same functionality as with a Time Capsule. I still have my Time Capsule but I stopped using it a few months ago. It was working great though while I was using it. I have it on eBay right now.
 
I'm in between getting a time capsule probably off of ebay or something, or getting a airport extreme and connecting external hard drive
 
I wonder why Apple still doesn't officially support the use of Airport Extreme to hook up disks for Time Machine backups . . . Wasn't this a feature they announced years ago, and then they took it away temporarily because it was buggy, but it seemed like a bug fix was coming "soon" . . . And now, how long has it been, 3 years? I'd much rather buy an Airport Extreme instead of a Time Capsule -- given all the complaints about Time Capsules dying after a year or two, and considering that external drives are relatively cheap and more versatile -- but if I want to use TimeMachine for backups on an Airport, my only options are (1) Do it unofficially, and live with the unsupported bugginess of it or (2) Pay the extra $$ for the Time Capsule and hope that it doesn't die on me?

Maybe I'll go ahead and buy a Time Capsule. :apple::confused:
 
When the last gen TCs were released (1TB and 2TB, not the new 'faster' ones), I was able to snag my grandma an older 500GB one NIB from BestBuy for $125. She owns a MBP 13" with AppleCare, so that AppleCare also applies to peripherals such as her TC.

It recently had some major syncing issues (after about 6 months), so she took it in and they gave her one of the new fast 1TBs.

I would most definitely have one if it worked with damn Verizon FiOS.
 
Abyssgh0st said:
When the last gen TCs were released (1TB and 2TB, not the new 'faster' ones), I was able to snag my grandma an older 500GB one NIB from BestBuy for $125. She owns a MBP 13" with AppleCare, so that AppleCare also applies to peripherals such as her TC.

It recently had some major syncing issues (after about 6 months), so she took it in and they gave her one of the new fast 1TBs.

I would most definitely have one if it worked with damn Verizon FiOS.
Click to expand...

Mine works fine with FiOS. I have it set up as a secondary access point within the house.

/Jim
 
flynz4 said:
Mine works fine with FiOS. I have it set up as a secondary access point within the house.

/Jim
Click to expand...

Here is my situation:

I dont think TC's are a good value when you can build a NAS for cheaper per GB. I have the FIOS Actiontek router and no Airport Extreme. I want to be able to schedule my iMac and Macbook Pro to use Time Machine on the network to the NAB. Is this possible running Leopard or Snow Leopard?
 
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